
Glass U '1 ^] 



Book . 5 ^L ^ 



I 



ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS 



OF THE 



American Museum of Natural 
History. 



Vol. II, Part II. 



THE NORTHERN SHOSHONE, 



BY 

ROBERT H. LOWIE. 



NEW YORK: 
Published by Order of the Trustees. 
January, 1909. 



American Museum of Natural History. 

PUBLICATIONS IN ANTHROPOLOGY. 



The results of research conducted by the Anthropological staff of the Museum, 
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of the American Museum of Natural History. This series of publication aims to 
give the results of field-work conducted by the above department, supplemented 
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Part II. Some Protective Designs of the Dakota. By Clark Wissler. 

Pp. 19-54, Plates V-VII, and 26 text figures, Febmary, 1907. 

Price, $0.50. 
Part III. Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. By A. L. Kroeber. Pp. 55- 

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Part IV. Ethnology of the Gros Ventre. By A. L. Kroeber. Pp. 141- 

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ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS 



OF THE 



American Museum of Natural 
History. 



Vol. II, Part II. 



THE NORTHERN SHOSHONE, 



BY 
ROBERT H. LOWIE. 



NEW YORK: 
Published by Order of the Trustees. 
January, 1909. 



Monograph 



i^:n 



ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS 

OF THE 

American Museum of Natural History 

Vol. II, Part II. 



THE NORTHERN 


SHOSHONE 










By Robert H. Lowie. 


CONTENTS. 


. Page. 


Introduction 169 


I. Ethnology 














171 


History and Geography .... 














171 


Material Culture ..... 














173 


Stone, Bone and Shell Implements . 














173 


Preparation of Hides 














17.5 


Pottery 














177 


Embroidery and Weaving 














177 


Clothing and Personal Decoration 














179 


Dwellings .... 














182 


Economic Life 
















184 


Hunting . 
















185 


Fishing 
















. 185 


Food 
















. 187 


Transportation and Trade 
















189 


Warfare 
















. 191 


Game.s ■ . 
















. 195 


Art .... 
















1 99 


Decorative Art 
















. 200 


Music 
















. 20G 


Soci.vL Organization 
















. 206 


Terms of Relationship 
















. 209 


Marriage 
















. 210 


Various Customs . 
















. 211 


Names 
















. 211 


Salutation 
















. 211 


Smoking . 
















212 


Menstrual Lodge 
















214 


Burial 
















214 


Dances 
















. 21G 



16.5 



166 



Anthropological Papers American Mnseum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 



Religion .... 

The Soul .... 

Ghosts .... 

Medicine .... 

Charms .... 
Conceptions of the Universe 
Miscellaneous ... 
II. Mythology .... 

1 . The Creation of the Shoshone 

2. "Wolf and Coyote . 

3. The Theft of Fire . 

4. The Theft of Pine-nuts . 

5. The Flood 

6. Coyote and his Daughters 

7. Iron-Man 
S. The Sun 
9. The Bear and the Deer . 

10. The Wea.sels and the Giants 

11. Dzoavits and the Wea.sels 

12. Dzoavits and Mosquito . 

13. The Weasel Brothers 

14. Dzoavits and the old Woman 

15. Dzoavits 

16. Coyote and the Rock 

17. The Bungling Host 

18. Porcupine and Coyote 

19. Skunk .... 

20. Skunk and Coyote . 

21. Skunk and the Mountain-Lion 

22. The Bull-frog and the Elk 

23. Coyote Tales . 

24. Lodge-Boy and Thrown- Away 
2.5. The Boy's Travels and the Water- Youths 

26. The Boy who A-isited his Grandfathers 

27. The Disobedient Brother 

28. The Sheep- Woman .... 

29. Thunder 

30. The Bad Medicine-Man . 

31. Cannibal Stories .... 

32. The Buffalo who Stole an Indian Girl 

33. The Stolen Wife .... 

34. The Horse- Woman .... 

35. The White INIan and the Monster-Bird 

36. The Poor Boy and his Horse . 

37. The Bear's Son .... 

38. Ghost Stories .... 

39. Enga-gwacu's Experiences in the Underworld 
BlBLIOGR.\PHY' ........ 



P,\GE 

223 
226 
227 
227 
229 
230 
232 
233 
236 
239 
244 
246 
247 
248 
251 
252 
253 
254 
257 
259 
260 
261 
262 
262 
265 
267 
268 
270 
271 
271 
272 
280 
283 
285 
287 
288 
290 
290 
291 
293 
293 
294 
294 
295 
298 
299 
301 
303 



1909.1 



Loitie, The XortJiern Shoshone. 



167 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Plates. 

Moccasins. Fig. 1 (Museum Xo. 50-6403 B), length 25 cm.; Fig. 2 (50-1141 A), 
length 14 cm.; Fig. 3 (50-6402 B), length 25 cm.; Fig. 4 (50-6409 A), length 
25 cm. 



Text Figures. 



1. Steatite Cup 

2. Hide tied to a Frame for Tanning . 

3. Arrangement for Smoking a Tanned 

4. Loom for Bead-weaving 

5. Outlines of Shoshone Basket-forms 

6. Pattern of a Shoshone Moccasin . 

7. Bead Xecklace .... 

8. Salmon-gig 

9. Lemhi Hearth and Drill. Wind River 

10. Cradle-board 

11. Set of Dice 

12. Buckskin Ball .... 

13. '"Spreading Design" on Moccasins . 

14. Beaded Strip on Dance-legging 

15. Beaded Strip on Dance-legging 

16. Parfleche Decoration 

17. Parfleche Decoration 

18. Parfleche Decoration 

19. Designs on a Wind River Drum . 

20. Musical Instrument 



Hide 



Drill 



Page 
174 
175 
176 
177 
178 
180 
182 
186 
189 
190 
197 
198 
201 
202 
202 
203 
204 
205 
207 
219 



INTRODUCTION. 

In the spring of 1906, the writer left New York on a jNIuseura expedition 
to the Shoshone of Lemhi Agency, Idaho. As there were rumors that the 
Lemhi people had already been removed to Fort Hall in the southeastern 
part of the state, it was necessary to stop off on that reservation in order to 
obtain authentic information on this point. After a few days' delay at 
Inkom, Pocatello and Ross Fork, I proceeded to Lemhi and remained there 
for the remainder of the summer, the removal of the Indians having been 
postponed until the following spring. While at Lemhi, I enjoyed the kind 
hospitality of ISIr. Eugene Duclos, the superintendent of the reservation. 
To Dr. Murphy, the government physician, to jNIr. J. P. Sherman of Owyhee, 
Nevada, and to Mr. Faukner, a half-breed Shoshone from Fort Hall, whom 
I met in New York, I am indebted for a few details. Some facts of com- 
parative interest were revealed in a conversation with Mr. H. H. St. Clair, 
who had visited the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, and I have also 
drawn on the notes obtained by Mr. St. Clair in connection with specimens 
collected for the Museum. Professor Franz Boas kindly offered me the use 
of the Shoshone texts recorded by Mr. St. Clair; it merely proved practica- 
ble, however, to call attention to some points of comparative interest re- 
vealed by this additional material. As much of the material culture of the 
Shoshone has disappeared, it seemed advisable to utilize the information 
buried in older literature and to weld it, together with my field-notes, into 
a somewhat systematic, though necessarily brief, account of the Northern 
Shoshone. Mr. Herbert J. Spinden's paper on The Nez Perce Indians 
(Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association, Volume II, Part 3, 
pp. 16,5-274) appeared too late to be adequately used for comparative pur- 
poses. 

The majority of the myths were told by old informants and taken down 
from the translation of my interpreters. Several stories were told in the 
ShoshoMe-English jargon of a middle-aged Indian sufficiently conversant 
with English to make himself understood. The tales of Iron-Man, the 
Bear and the Deer, and some of the Dzo'avits and minor Coyote stories 
were recorded as texts. The footnotes to the myths are not exhaustive, 
calling attention only to striking similarities and to homologies of compara- 

169 



170 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

tive interest. In order to faeilitate both comparative studies and a survey 
of the incidents of each story, every paragraph has been furnished Avith 
head-Hnes in marginal indentations. Though the representation of tales 
by such skeletal outlines as suggested by Mr. Joseph Jacobs at the Inter- 
national Folk-Lore Congress of 1891 did not prove practicable in the present 
stage of the cat-chword movement, the superiority of even the headlines 
here presented over the conventional abstracts appended to collections of 
North American tales will, I think, be conceded. 

As the time at my disposal permitted but a very superficial consideration 
of linguistic questions, no attempt is made in the following paper to render 
with more than approximate accuracy the intricacies of Shoshone phonetics. 
A constant error, which, however, it was not deemed advisable to remedy 
by wholesale correction, is the substitution of surds for sonants pronounced 
with surd force. Thus, p in pi'a does not represent the English sound, 
but a medial, and the same a])plies to t and k. 

a, e, i, o, u have their continental sounds. 

a, o, ii, are approximately the modified German vowels. 

E an obscure vowel. 

' whispered final vowel. 

V Spanish b. 

r "Shoshone r," related to d. 

dz intermediate between English dz and j in judge. 

X German ch in ach. 

c English sh. 

Robert H. Lowie. 
New York, 
December, 1908. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 171 



I. ETHNOLOGY. 

HISTORY AXD GEOGRAPHY. 

The Shoshone, or Snak(>s, constitute the northernmost division of the 
Shoshonean family. They occupied western Wyoming and Montana, central 
and southern Idaho, northern Utah and Nevada, and all but the western- 
most part of Oregon. Offshoots of the tribe fished on the Des Chutes 
every spring,^ and were even found on the upper Willamette (Multnomah);- 
so that the boundaries customarily assigned to Shoshone territory must be 
extended rather considerably towards the west. In Utah, most of the 
settlements were north of Great Salt Lake in Weber, Bear and Cache 
Valleys and in the neighborhood of Goose Creek Mountains. In Nevada, 
several bands roamed from Humboldt River to a hundred miles south, the 
chief of one of them living near Honey Lake, California.^ In Wyoming, 
the special territory of the Shoshone was on Green and Sweetwater Rivers; 
and they are said to have extended eastward as far as the North Platte.' 

The earliest notice of a meeting with the tribe is due to Lewis and Clark, 
who sighted the first Shoshone in southwestern ^Montana, and, after crossing 
the divide, visited the village on Lemhi River in August, 1805. From ex- 
plicit statements on the part of natives as well as from their riding-gear, 
they gathered that there had already been intercourse with Spanish traders.'^ 
From early accounts it is clear that the only constant allies of the Snakes 
were the Datcl'ba (Tushepaws), a subdivision of the Flathead, who joined 
their fishing-parties and accompanied them on their hunting excursions 
into the Plains." The Bannock, though never hostile, do not seem to have 
afforded their congeners any protection against their eastern foes in the 
early days. Largely on account of their comparative lack of firearms, 
perhaps partly on account of their natural timidity, the Shoshone were 
warred upon and despoiled of their possessions by the majority of Plains 
tribes. Thus, in the summer of 1805, the Atsina had deprived them of 
their skin-lodges and stolen many of their horses.^ On their westward tri|) 
Lewis and Clark met a number of tribes which were in the habit of harassing 
the Snakes. The Mandans were preparing an expedition against them, 

1 Lewis and Clark, III, 147; IV, 366. 

2 Ibid., IV, 280. 

3 nmton, 474; Sclioolcraft, V, 201. 
•* Schoolcraft, V, 199. 

fl Lewis and Clark, IV, 74, 77. 

6 Ibid., Ill, 27; Irving, (b) I, 274. 

^ Lewis and Clark, II, 383; III, 38. 



172 Anthropological Papers American Mttse^im of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

tlu' Hidatsa had captured Shoshone women, the Arikara professed to have 
learned the bead-making industry from Shoshone prisoners/ the Blackfoot 
and Crows were dreaded enemies," though the former were occasionally 
repelled by both Bannock and Shoshone.^ The AYvoming Shoshone had 
to suffer from the depredations of the Cheyenne and Arapaho.^ In the 
south the Shoshone had to contend against the Ute until a treaty of peace 
was concluded imder the influence of Brigham Yoimg.'' Practically all 
the Columbian tribes, such as the Xez Perce, Cayuse and Walla Walla, 
were hostile;^ but against some of these the Shoshone seem to have held 
their own.^ Some of the western bands were at war with the Klamath.^ 
Of course, practically none of these statements as to tribal relations applies 
rigorously to all the local Shoshone groups, or to any one group at all periods. 
In some cases friendship and hostility alternated irregularly. Thus, the 
Crow in 1806 were temporarily at peace with' the Snakes,^ ousted them from 
the upper Missouri region in 1822,"' were allies in 1842 against the Gros 
Ventres, Ogallala and Cheyenne," and in still later times formed a confedera- 
tion with Snakes, Bannock and Xez Perce against the Blackfoot, Sioux, 
Cheyenne and Arapaho.'- Similarly, the Ute, who in 1834 were reported 
as at war with the Shoshone," were found at other times at peaceable rendez- 
vous on Green River Avith Shoshone, Xez Perce, and Flathead Indians. ^^ 

While the Bannock have occasionally given the government cause for 
forcible intervention, the relations of the Shoshone to the whites, with the 
exception of local disturbances,^^ have been almost uniformly amicable. 
The friendship of the Lemhi was tested in 1877, when they remained neutral, 
refusing to join the X^ez Perce under Chief Joseph. The Shoshone are now 
confined to three reservations. Fort Hall, Idaho; Wind River Reservation, 
Wyoming; and Western Shoshone Reservation, Xevada. The Lemhi 
were moved to Fort Hall in 1907. The total population is probably about 
3300, corresponding to an estimated total of 4000 in 1847 for Shoshone and 



» Lewis and Clark, I, 210, 220, 249, 272. 283. 

2 Ibid., II, 252; V, 270. Wyetli. 206-7. Irving, (b) II, \r,9. 

^ Ross, I, 226. Townsend, 242. 

•* Fremont, 127. 

5 Remy, I, 291. 

fi Lewis and Clark, IV, 280, 331, 362; A', 6, 24, 106. Rot^s, I, 223. it pasfiini. 

7 Lewis and Clark, III. 145, 149, 168. 

8 Gatschet, 28. 

9 Lewis and Clark, V, 273. 
w Schoolcraft, V, 198. 

» Fremont, 41, 59, 146. 

>2 Clark, 14. 

'3 Ibid., .3.38. 

» Parker, 80, 83. 

IS Bancroft, 247, 259-60, 433, 515-16. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 173 

Bannock combined.^ Lewis and Clark's estimate of over 13,000- and 
Ross's of 36,000 ^ are of course purely conjectural. 

While by community of habitat and frequent intermarriage the Shoshone 
are most closely affiliated with the Bannock, they belong linguistically to 
the same subdivision as the Comanche, who are commonly regarded as a 
rather recent ofiFshoot from the Wyoming Shoshones.* 

The theory has been put forward that the Shoshone formerly occupied 
the Plains country and were driven westward by the attacks of Prairie 
tribes. According to Brinton,'^ all the Shoshoneans once inhabited the area 
between the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountains. In a recent paper. 
Professor Kroeber finds this view "highly improbable on account of the 
general distribution of dialectic groups" and "without support on linguistic 
grounds."*' This conclusion is corroborated by the complete absence of 
migration legends among the Lemhi and Nevada Shoshoneans, and by a num- 
ber of cultural traits. The old type of Shoshone dwelling, the development 
of fishing, the chase for small game, the weaving of sage-brush bark and of 
rabbit-skin blankets, the extreme simplicity of their social organization, the 
virtual absence of buffalo tales and the mythological importance of the 
coyote and the wolf, all bear out the supposition of a long occupancy of the 
Plateau region. The historically recorded westward movements of Sho- 
shone bands driven by Plains tribes thus shrink into purely local migrations 
not affecting the tribe as a whole. The influence of Prairie culture is, of 
course, undeniable, but its operation belongs to a relatively late period. 



MATERIAL CULTURE. 

Objects of Stone, Bone and Shell. The Shoshone made knives by break- 
ing pieces of obsidian,^ which was common in their country, and selecting 
suitable, sharp-edged fragments, often of irregular shape. A piece an 
inch or two long was not rejected so long as it woidd cut. The edge was 
renewed by means of an elk or deer horn. Sometimes a wooden or horn 
handle was attached, but this was frequently lacking.^ In fashioning arrow 
points, similar pieces of obsidian were broken off, laid upon a hard stone, 

1 Schoolcraft, VI, 697. 

2 Ibid., VI, U8-H9. 

3 RO.SS, I, 251; II, 150. 

* Mooney, (a) 1043. Kroeber, (d) 111. 

5 Brintoii, 121. 

6 Kroeber, (d) 165. 

7 Obsidian (du'pi) is still favorably^corupared with iron, because it is na'royuiit (powerful, 
strong), which iron is not. 

8 Lewis and Clark, III, 19; Wyeth. 213. 



174 



Anthropological Pu})ers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. II, 



and struck with another stone or finished with a deer or elk horn. The 
points were about three-quarters of an inch long, half an inch wide and 
rather thin. According to Wveth, those intended for hunting w^erc widened, 
so that the head might be withdrawn with the shaft, while arrows for war 
lacked this feature.^ The Shoshone had no axes; smaller branches were 
seized and broken with the hands, for larger trunks they had to depend on 
windfalls. Wood was split by means of a sharpened antler.- 

Lewis noted pots of white soft stone which became black and very hard 
by burning.'' According to information obtained by the writer, the stone 
formerly employed by the Shoshone was called to'sa-tak (white + ?) or 
ba'mu-tak (tobacco + ?). As it is known that the Shoshone made steatite 
pipe-bowls,* there can be little doubt that the vessels seen by Lewis were 




Fig. 1 (.50-1165). Steatite Cup. Diameter, 12 cm. 



of the same material. Wyeth pictures a "stone cooking pot and mortar" 
of pure lava, truncate, but curved at the bottom, widening towards the open- 
ing and recurved at the to}). In his text, he states that these pots, which 
had a capacity of about two quarts, were very rare, and that he never saw 
them used either as mortars or pots, though he believes they could have 
stood fire as a boiling-vessel.' The ]Muscum contains a (probably unfin- 
ished) flat-bottomed steatite cup with handle from Wind River; the out- 
side bears the marks of a picking instrument (Fig. 1). Stone mortars and 
pestles were seen by Culin among the Washakie Shoshone and Fort Hall 



1 Wyeth, 212; Lewis and ("lark, III, 12, 19. 

2 Lewis aiKl Clark, III, 9. 19. 

3 Ibid., Ill, 19. 
* Wyeth, 214. 

5 Ibid., 211. 



1909. 



Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 



175 



Bannock.^ Stone scrapers consisting of thin segments of (|iiartzite, made 
by striking the rock a smart blow, were found by Leidy both in actual use 
and in an old grave.- They were circular or oval, sharp-edged, convex on 
one side and flat on the other. 

Awls, salmon-gigs, and sometimes the caches in the hand-game, were 
of bone. Besides antlers, sharpened ribs were used as scrapers in the 
preparation of hides. Drinking cups and spoons ^ were made of mountain- 
sheep or buffalo horn. In the manufacture of bows, the horns of mountain- 
sheep and elk were used, after being molded by heating and wetting; they 
were worked smooth by scraping with sharp stones and drawing between 
two rough stones.^ Shells were used for personal decoration only. Abalone 
ornaments were obtained in trade from the coast Indians.^ 

Preparation of Hides. Buffalo, elk, and, in recent times, cowskins, 




Fig. 2. Hide tied to a Frame for Tanning. 

were stretched out on the ground and pegged down; whereas deerskins 
were hung up (Fig. 2). The hair is removed either by means of the elk- 
horn scraper haA-ing an iron blade secured by a buckskin thong, or with a 
horse's rib. The flesh is removed with the typical serrate Prairie fleshing 
tool. The brains of a deer were formerly dried for a length of time varying 
from a few days to several weeks, then boiled with deer-bones, and the mix- 
ture was rubbed in to soften the hide. The hide is put in cold water, wrung 



> Culin, 13, 89. 

2 Leidy, 653. 

3 Spoons were sometimes made of wood (Towiisend 
* Wyeth, 212. 

s Lewis and Clark, II, 372, 378. 



260). 



176 



Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History [\o\. II, 



out, suspended from a cross-beam and scraped. The scraper is either the 
elk-horn adze of the Plains, or a small elliptical sharp-edged stone. The 
scraping is continued until one side is perfectly white and smooth. The 
skin is repeatedly immersed in water, wrung and scraped in this fashion. 
In wringing, the left hand seizes one part of the hide from below, and the 
right twists the portion directly beneath, while the worker sits on the ground. 
The wringing operation is continued ad infinitum, the main worker being 
relieved from time to time by other women of the family or by visitors. In- 
stead of sitting on the ground, the worker will sometimes tie the hide to a 
frame; standing before it, she twists and untwists every section of the hide 

in succession about a wringing stick. In 
smoothing the skin, it is often placed 
across a sinew cord stretched between 
two supports, and vigorously moved back 
and forth. This method is said to have 
been used regularly with buffalo hides. 
Once I saw the cord stretched vertically 
instead of transversely, one end being 
attached to a tree near the ground and 
the other several feet above. The fibres 
are carefully removed on one side and 
remain on the other. Now- 
adays, as a rule, but one side 
is smoked, especially in mak- 
ing gauntlets for trade; for- 
merly both sides were usually 
smoked. 

Two smoking - frames 
were observed by the writer. 
One consisted of 




Fig. 3. Arrangeiru'iit for Smoking a Tanned Hide. 



a cross 



beam connecting the stump of a branch with the fork of two poles tied 
together so as to rest on the ground as the sides of an isosceles triangle. 
On one side quite near the tree, a hole was made, perhaps 45 cm. deep, and 
a fire built. On the one occasion when the process of smoking itself was 
witnessed, the deerskin was sewed together so that the side to be smoked 
formed the inner surface of a hollow cylinder. The lower end of the hide 
was staked down with wooden pegs to the perimeter of the firehole, the 
upper part was tied to the crotch of a tripod frame (Fig. 3). The woman 
built a fire of wooden shavings in a one-foot excavation. The smoke })layed 
on the inner half of the skin for from ten to fifteen minutes, turning it yellow. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern ShoshoTie. 177 

According to Mason/ the Shoshone employed three kinds of buckskin, 
— white, yellow and brown. I'he hair was often removed by rolling up the 
hide in ashes wet with warm water for a few days. "The hair was then 
removed by means of a wooden knife, a rib, or in later times with an old 
case-knife or bit of hoop-iron. The yellow and the brown skins received 
their tint by drying them over a smoklering fire of dry willow for the former 
and green willow for the latter color. The skins were vigorously pulled 
and stretched in every direction while the drying and smoking were going 
on." Mason's account is probably derived from descriptions of the method 
of Paiute and Ute tanners, whose implements are reproduced in his paper 
(Plates XC and XCII). 

Pottery. "C5'go-wi'towE," earthen pots, were referred to by several 
of my informants, and an old woman professed to have seen some in her 
youth. The existence of pottery is affirmed by Lewis," who speaks of "pots 
in the form of a jar made either of earth, or of a white soft stone." Still 




Fig. 4 (50-6404.) Loom for Bead-weaving. Length, 55 cm. 

more explicit is a statement by Ross, who pronounces the Shoshone the best 
of western potters. "The clays to be found all over their native soil are of 
excellent quality, and have not been overlooked by them." Reference is 
made to cylindrical kettles and water-jars w^ith stoppers, which were also 
used for holding fish, oil and grease.^ 

Embroidery and Weavmg. The designs produced with quills and in 
beadwork will be considered later. Nowadays, in beading, the women 
frequently employ a bow-shaped loom notched at both ends for the recep- 
tion of the single strings (Fig. 4). The use of looms in modern beadwork is 
rather common on Indian reservations, especially in the schools. The frame 
is, however, generally rectangular,^ instead of being arched as among the 
Shoshone. The process of embroidering resembles the second variety of 
Menomini beadwork as illustrated by Hoffman.'^ Where beads are sewed 
directly on cloth or l)uckskin, the Shoshone, as a rule, have no definite system 



1 Mason (a) 572. 

2 Lewis and Clark, III, 19. 

3 Ross, I. 273-4. 

■" Hoffman, 269, fig. 45. 
5 Ibid., 271, fig. 47. 



178 



Anthropological Papers American Musenm of Natural History. [Vol. II, 



of Stitching. In this respect, however, two Museum sj^ecimens form an 
exception. A number of l^eads are strung together and sewed on, the stitch 
passing down to the next row, where an equal number is strung in the oppo- 
site direction. Vertical bands result, producing the ridged effect character- 
istic of Dakota beadwork, while on the other side of the fabric the stitches 
run in straight parallel lines marking the borders of the bands. 

Sage-brush bark (wa'dzipi) was used for weaving baskets, bags (wa'- 







Fig. 5: a (50-2333), heiglit, 27 cm.; h (.50-6418), lieight, 33 cm.; 
50 cm.; d, from Schoolcraft. Outlines of Shoshone Basket -forms. 



c (50-6429), diameter 



dzi-mo'gots) and blankets. For the latter purpose, the skins of cottontail 
and jack-rabbits, ground-hogs and other small animals were also employed. 
]\Iats were manufactured from rushes. The forms of Shoshone baskets, 
so far as known to the writer, are illustrated in Fig. 5. The technique of 
the basketry was either coiled or twined. Basket hats, roasting trays (Fig. 5, 
c), gathering baskets (Fig. 5, b), and fans were twined; water-bottles (Fig. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 179 

5, a), gambling trays, berrying baskets, and cooking vessels (Fig. 5, d) 
were coiled. The latter were made of long tough roots wound in plies 
around a center. The plies were held together by a small root passed 
through a space made by forcing an awl between the two last plies, and 
winding the root under the last and over the one to be added in the progress 
of formation.^ This vessel was also used for a drinking cup, and was worn 
as a hat by women on the march. Dice trays were of a three or four-rod 
vertical foundation. Water bottles were rendered tight by pitching. Sev- 
eral Museum specimens are round-bottomed and supplied with inwoven 
horseha,ir braids for handles. Some have a two-rod foundation, changing to 
one-rod near the rim. The gathering baskets are of twilled openwork twine. 
Professor Mason notes the peculiar twisting of the warp elements, which, 
instead of rising vertically, make about one-fourth of a turn from the per- 
pendicular. Both these baskets and the other weavings in diagonal twined 
work are furnished with a coiled border.^ The manufacture of cordage 
will be discussed later in connection with fishing. 

Clothing and Personal Decoration. Lewis and Clark found the Sho- 
shone rather well dressed, in the t\'pical Plains fashion.^ The blanket robe 
was the same for both sexes, except that the women's was smaller. It con- 
sisted of buffalo, or more commonly of antelope, deer or bighorn skin, 
dressed with the hair. It was thrown loosely over the shoulders, and drawn 
together by the hands, or confined with a girdle in cold weather. Some robes 
were of beaver, wolf and ground-hog skin, and there is testimony for the 
former use of woven rabbit skins. In the summer, elk skins dressed without 
the hair were commonly employed. 

The moccasins were of deer, elk, or buffalo skin dressed without the 
hair; but, in winter, moccasins of buffalo skin had the hair inside. There 
was one seam on the outer edge of the foot. According to my informants, 
moccasins were stuffed with sage-brush bark in the cold season.* Some 
young men ornamented the tops of their moccasins with polecat skins, trail- 
ing the tail at their heels. Nowadays practically none of the women's 
moccasins are beaded, and many of the men's are likewise undecorated. 
The Shoshone and Bannock made their moccasins in one piece.^ In manu- 
facturing the footgear for her family, the housewife cuts off a number of 

1 Wyeth, 211. 

2 Cf. Mason, (b) 489-496. 

3 Lewis and Clark, II, 372, 377-9; III, 4-6. 

4 Cf. Dixon, (a) 156. 
s Clark, 258. 



ISO 



Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 



pieces of tanned buckskin, about ten inches wide for adults. One edge of 
these strips is incised, so as to leave two adjoining semi-circular pro- 
jections from the uncut portion; the point of intersection of these projec- 
tions marks the l)eginning of the seam in the finished product (Fig. 6). One 
of the two symmetrical halves is then folded over the other, and sewed to 
it Avith awl and sinew. Before the folding over, the part designed for the 
up])er receives a short horizontal incision and a nuich longer one perpen- 
dicular to it, marking the place for the insertion of the tongue and for the 
turning up at the back; holes are pierced for the sinew lace. This method 
agrees with that anciently employed by the Blackfoot, but varies from that 
in recent use among Plains tribes wearing hard-soled moccasins. I noted 
a single instance of a moccasin of Algonijuin style with a seam in the middle 
of the upper. There were usiuilly several triangidar or rectangular trailers. 

At home, men and women were 
often barefoot. 

The women's leggings were 
of antelope skin, reaching to the 
knee and secured by a garter 
below. Tht>y are often united 
with the moccasin. The men's 
leggings wt>re of the same mate- 
rial; but very long and full, each 
legging being formed of almost 
an entire skin. The tail was 
worn upwards, while the deeply 
fringed neck trailed behind. The 
uj)])er part was left open, so as 
to permit the legs of the skin to 
be drawn beneath a girdle both 
before and behind; while the wide part of the skin covered the buttocks and 
extended in front so as to render a breechcloth unnecessary. Townsend, 
however, notes square clouts fastened with a thong, which were worn by 
both men and women. ^ The leggings had deeply fringed flaps at the sides, 
which were sometimes ornamented with bunches of hair taken from a slain 
enemy. Long beaded strips commonly decorated the sides. 

The men's shirt was of deer, antelope, bighorn, or, more rarely, v\k skin, 
dressed without the hair; it reached nearly half way down the thigh. The 
sides were sewed, fringed and ornamented from the bottom upwards to 
within six or eight inches of the sleeve. The sleeves were fringed below and 




Fig. 6. Pattern of a Slioslione Moccasin. 



• Townsenil, 246, 252-4, 261. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 181 

on the sides above the elbow, being plain from elbow to wrist and fitting 
the arm tightly. There were wide, richly quilled or beaded shoulder straps, 
lacking in the women's chemise. The chemises were closed at the sides; 
except for women nursing children, in which case there was an opening as 
low as the waist. The breast was generally ornamented with porcupine 
quill embroidery. The women wore a girdle of dressed leather. In dis- 
engaging their arm from a sleeve, men and women drew it out by means of 
the opening underneath the arm and threw the sleeve behind the body. 
Women sometimes attached an awl-case to the front of their shirts. 

The tippet of the Shoshone is described by Lewis as the most elegant 
Indian garment ever seen by him, its collar being a strip of otter fur about 
four or five inches wide, cut out of the back of the skin, the eyes and nose 
forming one extremity and the tail the other. Beginning a Uttle behind 
the ear at one edge of the collar and proceeding towards the tail, the Indians 
attached from one hundred to two hundred and fifty little rolls of ermine 
skin. The ermine skin was first dressed with the fur and a narrow strip 
cut out of the back from the nose to the tail. This was sewed around a 
small cord of silk-grass (Y^icca filameniosa) , twisted and tapering so as to 
give a just proportion to the tail which is to form the lower extremity of the 
strand. Thus arranged, the skins are confined in bundles of two or three, 
which are attached to the collar. To conceal the connection, a broad 
ermine skin fringe was attached to the collar, and little bundles of fine fringe 
were fastened to the tails in order to show off their black extremities. The 
center of the otter-skin collar was ornamented with abalone (?) shells. 
The collar was confined around the neck, and little rolls of ermine skin 
covered the shoulders and body nearly to the waist, thus giAing the appear- 
ance of a short cloak. The men often wore headbands of fox or otter skin. 
Remy mentions a cap of rabbit skins, to which were attached several rabbit- 
tails.^ 

In I>ewis and Clark's time, only children wore beads about their necks. 
To-day necklaces of long, cyhndrical beads (Fig. 7) are very popular among 
men and women. These were preceded by ornaments of strung salmon- 
vertebrtie, separated at a later period by intervening beads, or of small 
sea-shells obtained from neighboring tribes. Braided sweet-grass and em- 
broidered collars of leather or silk-grass were used for the same purpose. 
Elk-tooth necklaces were worn by women and children; while bear-claw 
necklaces were the prerogative of men who had killed a grizzly, thus serving 
as a badge of distinction.^ Fans are still made of long eagle feathers wrapped 
with red cloth at the bottom and sometimes provided with an attachment 
of little bells. 

» Remy, I, 146. 

2 Lewis and Clark, III, 5. Townsend, 253-4. 



182 Anthropological Papers American Museum of A'atural History. [Vol. II, 

The nose was never piereed for the insertion of ornaments. Beads were 
worn snspended from the ear in httlc bunches, sometimes being intermixed 
with triangular pieces of shell. Nowadays, men and women have one or 
tw^o perforations in either ear, and wear earplugs or rings. Frequently 
the ping is perforated to admit a brass ring. The ears are pierced at a very 
early age; sometimes as many as five holes are made. 

The explorers found both sexes wearing their hair "in a loose lank flow 
over the shoulders and face"; only a few men had two etjual cues hanging 
over each ear and drawn in front of the body. The men tied on eagle feath- 
ers and sometimes attached beads to the front of the crown. At present 
the men usually have two cues in front, with an occasional third in the rear; 
the cues are decorated with strips of weasel or otter skin and feathers. The 
women part their hair in the middle and, with a little piece of wood, put red 
paint on the dividing line; braids are very rare with them. The old-style 
brush (no'tuye) consisted of a bunch of dried pi'a co'nip (spear ?-grass). 




Fig. 7 (50-6412). Bead Necklace. Length, 32 cm. 

The hair of the beard is pulled out with iron, formerly brass, tweezers. I 
saw only two men with moustaches; one was a medicine-man who derived 
his name Tumodzo, Black-Moustache, from this peculiarity. The finger- 
nails were filed with a small, rough, flat stone. 

Tattooing was not practised, except that women sometimes punctured 
a small circle on their forehead, nose or cheeks, and introduced soot or 
grease, or some other black substance which left an indelible stain. ^ The 
men paint their face with a mixture of grease and bi'cap, red paint. The 
women also employ bi'cap, which is kept in small buckskin pouches tied 
at the top with a buckskin thong. Young girls sometimes painted with 
white clay. Black and a'k-hwi (bluish ?) paint were also in use. The 
ways of painting for a dance will be described later. In washing, the mouth 
is filled with water, which is squirted in a stream at the hands, which then 
wet the hair and face. 

Dwellings. The majority of the Lemhi lived in log-cabins at the time 



1 Lewis and Clark, II, 373. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 183 

of my visit. These face the entrance to the summer-shades, ho'gii-gan' 
(shade-lodge), where the greater part of the day is spent during the warm 
season. The hS'gii-gan' has a rectangular ground-plan, about twelve feet 
by ten, bounded by four forked posts rarely more than six feet high, which, 
with beams passing from crotch to crotch, support the flat roof of brush and 
twigs. The walls are also formed of brush; sometimes there is a partial 
covering of canvas. As food is prepared in this shelter, a fireplace may be 
maintained in the center. Smaller shades for temporary use were made 
by arranging a few willows or cottonwoods in the arc of a circle. For feasts 
and some dances, a circular enclosure is similarly constructed. At a dis- 
tance of about twenty feet from the main habitation, there is often a rude 
conical structure of unexcoriated branches or trunks, much lower than a 
tipi and walled with brush or canvas. This serves as the menstrual hut 
(hu'na-gan'). Sometimes the menstrual hut is dome-shaped, after the 
fashion of the sweat-lodges (na'bacoko-gan^) ; but still lower and smaller, 
just large enough for a single person to crawl in. 

I saw very few (canvas-covered) tipis, one of which was used exclusively 
for the storage of dance-regalia. Skin-lodges were, however, the common 
dwellings of all bands in contact with the Prairie tribes during the last 
century.^ The Lemhi visited by Lewis possessed a single "leather" lodge; 
but this was due to the recent loss of their tipis in a fight with the Atsina,' 
which obliged them to construct small conical lodges of willow branches 
and brush.^ The crudity of this style of dwelling led to the designation of 
the Snakes as Bad Lodges in the sign-language of the Plains.* According 
to the Lemhi themselves, supported by the testimony of their m^ihs, the 
habitation preceding the skin tipi was small and of conical shape, resembling 
the modern menstrual hut. In summer it was simply walled with brush; 
but in the winter there was a thatching of sage-brush, or more commonly 
of dry pi'a co'nip, (spear-grass) whence the name coni-gan\ grass-lodges. 
The Kiowa still remember the Shoshone as formerly dwelling in lodges of 
interwoven rushes or grass, and have named them accordingly.-^ Bonne- 
ville described huts shaped like a hay-stack and constructed of willow 
branches covered with long grass; these were sometimes surrounded]_by a 
small enclosure of wormwood, about three feet high.^ Semi-circular straw- 
thatched dwellings were found bv Fremont.^ The Western Shoshone of 



1 Townsend, 257. 

2 Lewis and Clark, II, 343. 

3 Ibid., II, 300, 343, 352. 
•» Clarlv, 337. 

5 Mooney, (b) 160. 

6 Irving, (a) 255. 

7 Fremont, 170. 



184 Anthropologiccil Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

Nevada have kept wikiups of straw or tule reeds until quite recent times. ^ 
In this respect they resemble their congeners, the Paiute, whose ordinary 
habitation is described as a "small rounded hut of tule rushes over a frame- 
work of poles, with the ground for a floor and the fire in the center and al- 
most entirely open at the top."- There is absolutely no evidence that the 
Shoshone ever constructed semi-subterranean earth-lodges. On the other 
hand, they and kindred tribes are sometimes mentioned by early travellers 
as cave-dwellers.^ 

The flooring was of pi'a co'nip, foliage and brush. Antelope and other 
skins served for seats and beds. Mats made from large (tule ?) rushes 
were also used to sleep on. They were about four feet wide and, when 
carried, were rolled up like a scroll.* For storage, parfleches and other raw- 
hide bags were employed; berries were kept in bags of silk-grass bark.^ 
Within recent times, Nez Perce bags (cai'raogots) of various sizes have 
become very popular, sometimes as many as half a dozen being used in a 
single dwelling; they are all obtained by trading. 

When on the warpath, the Shoshone erected a shelter by .simply insert- 
ing half a dozen willow branches in the earth, making a semi-cylindrical 
framework, over which blankets were spread." 

ECONOMIC LIFE. 

The economic life of the Northern Shoshone differed fundamentally 
in the summer and winter. From the middle of INIay to September, they 
dwelt on the tributaries of the Columbia, subsisting mainly on salmon. 
When the fish perished, or returned, the Lemhi Shoshone united with other 
Snake bands and, joining the Flathead, descended east of the Rocky Moun- 
tains in quest of buffalo. The people met by Lewis and Clark in August, 
1805, were on the point of beginning their hunting expedition; they were 
already seriously suffering from want and were only able to entertain their 
visitors with an odd salmon and dried choke- cherries. Lewis states that 
they greatly dreaded their eastern neighbors and, accordingly, returned 
speedily to the salmon country as soon as they had obtained a sufficient stock 
of dried meat.^ Other bands of Shoshone are described as t\^ical Plains 
peoples, permanently engaged in the pursuit of the buffalo. This is explic- 



1 Report 1890, 385. Cf. Wyetli, 214. 

2 Mooney, (a) 1050. 

3 Doinenech, II, 256-7. Remy, I, li.'9. 
•• Wyeth, 214. 

» Lewis and Clark, III, 12. 

Bourke, 340. 

T Lewis and Clark, II, 373-4, 385: III, 23 Domenec-li, II. 61. 



1909.] Louie, The Northern Shoshone. 185 

itly stated of the Shirrv-dikas (Ca'ro-rika = Dog-eaters) by Ross ' and 
of the Green River Snakes by Wyeth.^ 

Huntincj. Buffalo were hunted on horseback in t^^ical Prairie fashion. 
The Blackfoot method of driving a hertl down a kulge is said to have been 
unknown. Antelopes were also hunted on horseback. As it was found 
impossible to overtake them with a single horse, the Shoshone Avould sepa- 
rate to the distance of five or six miles around a herd, generally selecting an 
eminence for a stand. One or two men pursued the herd at full speed and, 
after several miles, were relieved by other hunters on fresh horses. This 
relay chase was continued until the exhaustefl animals could be dispatched 
with arrows. It would sometimes take forty or fifty hunters half a day to 
kill two or three antelopes by this method. During Lewis's visit, twenty 
men set out after a herd of ten head and Ave re unable to capture a single 
animal in a two hours' run.' Irving records that the surrounded antelopes 
were killed by men, women and boys with clubs.* Another method, called 
oro'ongEn, was to stalk the game dressed in an antelope skin and with a 
headgear of antelope horns, and to shoot the approaching animals.^ This 
method was sometimes used to lure mountain sheep. The customary way 
was to pursue them with several dogs until they were driven to a high rock 
where they could be easily shot. The arrow-points were sometimes tipped 
with a mixture of blood and a poisonous root called I'zai. 

Elk and deer are said to have been relatively rare in the country of the 
Lemhi people."' According to one of my informants, deer were sometimes 
killed in winter by planting poisoned spears in the ground. Smaller game, 
such as groundhogs, jack-rabbits, cottontails and prairie-dogs were hunted 
by the boys with the aid of their dogs.'' Sage-hens were driven into an en- 
closure, or trapped Avith nooses. Wolves and foxes were snared.^ Owing 
to the scarcity of food, the customary distribution of the game among all the 
members of a band seems to have been suspended at times, each hunter 
preserving his booty for himself and his immediate family.^ 

Fishing. Salmon constituted the principal means of subsistence dur- 
ing the fishing season, but sturgeon and trout were also caught. They 
were speared, caught in nets, or trapped by means of weirs. The spears 
consisted of a long pole with a bone gig about two and a half inches long,^° 

1 Ross, I, 249-51. 

2 Wyeth, 219, 227. 

3 Lewis and Clark, II, 346. 
■> Irving, (a) 401-2. 

s Remy, I, 128. 

« Lewi.s and Clarl<, II, 346. 

7 Irving, (a) 259. 

8 Lewis and Clark, II, 373. 

9 Ibid., III. 18. 

'" Lewis and Clark give the length as from four to six inches; III, 9. 



186 



Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xalural History. [Vol. II, 



: 



to which a small strong line was attached near the middle, connecting it 
with the shaft about two feet from the point. Towards the forward end of 
this head there was a small hole, which entered it ranging acutely toward 
the point of the head; it was quite shallow. In this hole, the front end of 
the shaft was placed. The shaft was about ten feet long. When a salmon 
or sturgeon was struck, the head became detached from the shaft and turned 
crosswise to its direction while entering. If the fish was strong, the staff 
was relinquished and acted as a buoy until the 
exhausted fish coidd be secured. A modern salmon- 
gig, consisting of an iron nail and a piece of bone is 
illustrated in Fig. 8. 

The Shoshone were in the habit of constructing 
barriers of stones or brush on small streams to force 
the fish into certain places, where they watched for 
them, often at night, with a torch.^ These barriers 
sometimes consisted of nets of closely-woven willows, 
stretched vertically and extending several feet above 
the surface. They were generally constructed in slues 
and creeks rather than in wide and deep parts of the 
river. "A number of Indians enter the water about a 
hundred yards above the net, and, walking closely, 
drive the fish in a body against the wickcrwork. 
Here they frequently become entangled and are always 
checked; the spear is then used dexterously, and they 
are thrown out, one by one, upon the shore. "- 

Ross describes a Wararika fishing scene, where from 
fifty to a hundred men were busily engaged, some 
wading into the water to their waists and spearing the 
fish with fourteen-foot shafts; while many erected scaf- 
folds, and others stood on projecting rocks with scoop- 
nets or stretched their netting in the narrow channels. 
The youngsters carried the fish home for the women to 
clean and prepare.^ Bourke saw the Shoshone construct 
a dam of rocks and a wattle-work of willows, which allowed the water to 
pass, but retained solids. The spot was guarded by two or three watch- 
men. The rest of the party mounted their ponies, started down-stream to 
a favorable place, entered, and began to ascend the current, lashing the 
surface of the water in front with long poles, while joining in a medicine 
song. "The frightened trout, having no other mode of escape, would dart 



Fig. 8 (50-6426) 
Salmon-gig. Length, 
11 cm. 



» Wyeth, 213. 

2 Townsend, 265. 

3 Ross. 269. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Slwshone. 187 

iip-streain only to be held in the dam, from which the Indians would calmly 
proceed to take them in gunnysacks."^ 

Wyeth speaks of scoop-nets and seines, both resembling those used by 
whites; the knots used in netting also seemed to be of exactly the same 
character. The leaded line was formed by attaching oblong rounded 
stones which had a sunken groove near the middle in which to wind the 
attaching ligature. Reeds were used for floats. The nets were made with 
the outer bark of a weed, which made a stronger line than any of Wyeth's 
own. "The twine is formed by laying the fibre doubled across the knee, 
the bight towards the left, and held between the thumb and finger of that 
hand, with the two parts which are to form the twine toward the right and a 
little separated; rolling these two parts between the knee and right hand 
outwardly from the operator, and twisting the bight between the thumb and 
finger of the left hand forms the thread. More fibre is added as that first 
commenced on diminishes in size, so as to make a continuous and ecjual 
line. In this way excellent twine is made much more rapidly than could 
be expected."" 

The method of trapping fish by the aid of weirs and baskets combined, 
is best described and illustrated by Lewis and Clark. The weir, observed 
by them, extended across four channels, three of which were narrow and 
stopped by tree trunks. These supported the willow-stakes which were 
driven down closely enough to prevent the passage of the salmon. About 
the center of each, a basket eighteen or twenty feet long, cylindrical at the 
top and tapering towards the bottom, was opposed to a small aperture in 
the weir with its mouth up-stream. The basket was so narrow at its lower 
extremity that the fish, when once inside, could not turn about; they were 
taken out by untying the small ends of the longitudinal willows. The weir 
in the main channel was somewhat differently contrived, inasmuch as there 
were two distinct weirs, each furnished with two baskets. The one was 
designed to take the salmon in ascending, the other in descending.^ 

Food. To a considerable extent, the Shoshone depended on vegetable 
food, and to this fact is due the name of "Diggers" occasionally applied to 
portions of the tribe. The seeds of Pinus monopJii/Ihts were gathered and 
stored for the winter.* Sunflower seeds were knocked into gathering-baskets 
with woven trays. By pounding and friction between smooth stones, they 
were reduced to flour. A mixture of sunflower seeds, lambs-tjuarter and 
service-berries was pounded and made into a kind of bread.^ Often the 

1 Bourke, 341. 

2 W5'eth, 213-4. 

3 Lewis and Clark, III, 6-7; figure, page 7. 
I Remy, I, 135. 

* Lewis and Clark, III, 42. Gass, 118, 121. 



188 Anthropological Papers American Museum of A'atural History. [Vol. II, 

pounded mass of seeds was roasted in a long, flat willow-tray. Choke-cher- 
ries were mashed with stones and dried in the sun. Service-berries Avere 
prepared in the same way, sometimes on scaffolds, made intp cakes, and 
stored in bags.^ 

In gathering roots, the women observed by Wyeth employed crooked 
sticks with curved ends sharpened by firing and rubbing against a rough 
stone. Sometimes the implement consisted of an elk or deer horn attached 
to a stick.- I saw three digging-sticks, varying from two to three feet in 
length. All were of iron and pointed at the bottom. 'I'wo had an iron 
knob at the top; the third was provided with a horizontal piece of wood for 
a handle, which was clasped with the left hand palm-up, and in reverse 
fashion by the right. Yampa {Anethum graveolens) was a favorite article 
of food. It was sometimes eaten green, or dried, without any preparation 
oi* pounded to a mealy substance which thickened with boiling water.-' 
Valeriana edulis Avas baked in the groinid for two days to deprive it of its 
strong poisonous qualities.* Camass roots were placed in pits underground, 
into which hot stones had been placed. Here they were kept for several 
days until "of a dark-brown color and sweet as molasses." Often they 
were made into cakes by washing, pressing and baking slightly in the sun.' 
At present, camass is boiled to a gelatinous consistency in modern kettles. 
Lewis and Clark mention a kind of artichoke (prairie-turnip) which was 
hardened by drying and boiled, and an unidentified white root which was 
always boiled.^ 

A basket served for a boiling-pot. Stones were heated and dcjiosited 
in the basket with the food, "producing a mess mixed with soot, ashes and 
dirt." ^ Domenech states that the baskets were covered with buffalo skins 
and placed in an excavation when used for cooking.* Both fish and game, 
as well as pulverized bones,® were boiled. Fish were dried with berries, 
often on scaffolds. The red salmon-eggs were also eaten ; dried and pounded 
they made a good soup.^" Serpents, lizards, grasshoppers, mice, crickets, 
and pismires wen; thrown into a large tray with burning cinders and tossed 
to and fro until roasted. Roasted ants were kept in bags for future use. 

In making fire the Shoshone twirled a blunt drill in the cavity of a soft 

J Lewi.'! and Clark, III, 12. 15; II, 342. Townsend, 268. 

2 Wyetli, 213. 

3 Fremont, 124. Lewis and Clark, III, 13. 
■• Fremont, 135. 

5 Townsend, 247. 

6 Lewis and Clark, III, 13. 

7 Wyeth, 211. 

* Domenech, II, 244. 

8 Wyeth, 217. 
10 Gass, 121. 



I 



1909.1 



Lou'ie, The Northern Shoshone. 



189 



spongy hearth (Fig. 9, a), so that the particles of wood separated by the fric- 
tion were heaped up in a Httle pile. In rolling the drill between the palms, 
it was pressed downwards; and when the hands had descended to the bot- 
tom, they were rapidly brought back to the top and repeated the work until 
the dust ignited. Dry grass and rotten wood were employed as tinder. 
Lewis was surprised to find that fire could thus be obtained in less than a 
minute.^ Wyeth describes the hearth as dry and hard, the shaft as about 
two feet in length and three-eighths of an inch in diameter. According to 
Wyeth, when the hands of the manipulator had approached the lower end, 
they were relieved by those of a second operator.^ The drill of all Sho- 
shonean tribes is unicjue in being spliced,- — a characteristic shared only by 
the firestick of the Klamath.^ A specimen from Wind River (Fig. 9, c) has 
a sage-wood head, thinned towards the upper end so as to fit into the split, 




Fig. 9 (a, 50-6408-A; b, 50-6408-B). Lemhi Hearth and Drill, 
(c, 50-2329 B). Wind River Drill. Length, 75 cm. 



Lengths, 20 cm., .37 cm. 



which is wrapjictl with buckskin; each head can be easily removed and 
re-inserted. Ihe shaft is of service-berry wood. In a Lemhi model (Fig. 
9, b), the head cannot be extricated, being securely lashed with sinew both 
at its tapering extremity and at the lower end of the shaft. Long ropes were 
twisted from the bark of wormwood and carried about lighted as a slow- 
match, which would be used to ignite suitable dry wood.' Sage-brush was 
also used for torches. I saw a willow fire-drill s])lit at the lower end to 
receive the blunt point. 

Transportation and Trade. As has often been pointed out, the intro- 
duction of the horse eflfected momentous changes in Indian modes of life. 
The Lemhi Shoshone have no historical tradition as to the way horses were 
first obtained by them. Clark states that their first ponies were secured 

1 Lewis and Clark, III, 2L Gass, 121. 

2 W'yeth, 214. 

3 Hough, 536. 538-540. 
■• Irving, (a) 259. 



190 



Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vo\. II, 



from the Comanche.^ At the time of Lewis and Clark's visit, they had just 
suffered defeat at the hands of the Atsina; nevertheless the number of horses 
in the tribe was at first estimated at 400, and later at 700. Each warrior 
kept one or more horses tied to a stake near his lodge, both day and niglit. 
The horses bore Spanish brands, and there were some mules said to have 
been derived from the same souree. Bridle-bits and stirrups were also 
obtained from the Spaniards. The Shoshone ranked as expert equestrians.^ 

Streams were sometimes crossed in rafts, which were about eight feet 
long. Small bundles of reeds, with the butt-ends lashed together, were 
placed with their small ends outwards. Several bundles were united so as 
to form a ca\ity on top. There was no attempt to render the craft tight; 
the navigator depended largely on the buoyancy of the material. The raft 
was propelled by punting.^ 

There arc two types of cradle-boards. On(; form consists of a board 




Fig. 10 (50-2365). Crarlle-board. Lengtli, 104 cm. 



about one meter long, curved convexly above and concavely below, and 
tapering towards the bottom. There is a covering of white buckskin, fringed 
in the buck, and ])rovidcd with a hooded pocket in front, for the insertion 
of the infant, which is tightly laced with strings. From a bent stick, which 
may be raised and lowered, there is suspended an awning that serves as a 
sunshade. '^I"'he child's back rested against the board, and the cradle was 
carried like a knapsack by means of a shoulder-strap.^ This t}^e is char- 
acteristic of the Sahaptin.^ The form illustrated in Fig. 10 does not differ 
in general shape; but the frame consists of a hoop and a series of transverse 
willow-sticks lashed down to the rim on both sides, from a distance of twenty- 
five centimeters from the toji to within eight centimeters from the lower 



1 Clark, 338. 

2 Lewis and Clark, II, 348, 372; III, 19, 31-2. 

3 Wyeth, 214. Fremont, 168. Ros.*, I, 274. Irving, (b) II, 21. 
* Cf. Remy, I. 127. 

s Mason, (c) 186-7. 



1909.] Lowie, The Xorthern Shoshone. 191 

end of the cradle. The graduaUy shortened willow-sticks are closely united 
by three strings passing through perforations made near the extremities and 
centre of each. In the middle, the sticks are braced by a perpendicular 
rod nailed to the uppermost transverse bar and the lower extremity of the 
hoop. 

Trade was carried on especially with the Flathead, Xez Perce and 
Cayuse. The Nez Perce would pay a horse for four bags of salmon. Ten 
sheep, or two bearskins, were considered the equal of a horse. Buffalo 
meat and various kinds of peltry were traded to and fro. Lewis and Clark 
found metal arrow-points, which had been secured from the Crow on the 
Yellowstone in exchange for ponies.^ Lewis purchased horses of the Snakes, 
giving an axe, a knife, a handkerchief, and paint for each. INIules had to be 
bought at approximately twice the amount of property; and some mules 
were considered worth three or four horses.^ The cessation of hostilities 
with other tribes naturally promoted trading, so that articles of foreign make, 
Blackfoot tobacco pouches, and especially Xez Perce bags, are at present 
extremely common. In 1834, the normal price of a dried salmon was a 
straight awl and a small fish-hook, valued at one cent; ten fish were given 
for a common butcher knife worth eight cents. Individual tribesmen 
preferred to get beads and paint. A beaver skin, then valued at from 
eight to ten dollars in Boston, was sold for twelve and a half cents' worth of 
goods.^ Of course, the supply regulated the price; in time of dearth, 
excessive prices were asked for salmon, or even exorbitant offers might be 
rejected.^ In Fremont's day, clothing was eagerly sought, and a few gar- 
ments were gladly purchased with a disproportionate amount of food.^ 



WARFARE. 

The military ecjuipment of the Shoshone consisted of bows and arrows, 
poggamoggans, shields and skin armor. Two t^^^es of bows occurred. 
The characteristically Shoshonean bow, shared by the Canadian Atha- 
bascans, Apache, Navajo, and Pueblo tribes, is described by Mason as nar- 
row, ovate in section, and sinew-lined. The occurrence of sinew lining on 
bows from the Plains is attributed by Mason to contact with the Great Basin 
tribes.^ Lewis and Clark found bows of cedar and pine with their backs 



1 Lewis and Clark, III, 19. 

2 Ibid., Ill, 28; II, 374. 

3 Townsend, 261. Cf. Ross, I, 257-S; II, 98. 
* Ibid, 252, 263 

« Fremont, 169. 

6 Mason, (d) 643, explanation to Plate LXII. 



192 Anthropological Papers American Musetim of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

covered with sinew and jihu'.' Elk-horn bows of similar construction, 
made of a single piece and sinew-backed, occurred; they were often 
ornamented with porcupine (juills wrapped for some distance at both 
extremities. Of a different txi^e were the com])ound bighorn bows, con- 
sisting of two parts spliced in the center with sturgeon- glue and with 
deer-sinews wound around the splice. At the center, two deer-sinews were 
strongly glued before winding the splice and secured by their butt-ends, the 
small ends bending outward at the ends of the bow. Sometimes the sin- 
ews covered the whole width of the back. For ornament, the skin of a 
snake was glued to the bow. The string was of twisted sinew and used 
loose; the archer made use of a wrist-guard." The arrow-shaft was about 
two and a half feet long and generally made of a shrub called "grease- 
bush"; it was steamed, wetted, and immersed in hot sand and ashes. 
For smoothing, it was drawn between two rough slightly-grooved stones, 
coarse sand being used to increase the friction. The arrow was unnotched, 
and was feathered for about five inches near its rear end, leaving just 
enough space for the marksman to pull it in drawing the bow.^ 

Several writers refer to the use of poison. To Wyeth, the arrows seemed 
to have been dipped in some dark-colored fluid, which had dried on them.* 
Clark was told that the arrows were dipped into a compound matle of ])ul- 
verized ants and the spleen of an animal. The mixture was placed in the 
sun and allowed to decay. "The result was such a deadly poison that if 
the arrow broke the skin in touching a person, it was sure to jiroduce death." ^ 
Another source mentions the use of rattlesnake poison both for the chase 
and in war.® 

The quiver, which contained the fire-drill as well as the arrows, was 
formed of various skins, preferably of otter skin. It was narrow, sufficiently 
long to protect its contents from the w^eather, and was worn on the back by 
means of a strap passing over the left shoulder and under the right arm.^ 
The poggamoggan consisted of a wooden handle about two feet long, cov- 
ered Avith dressed skin, and a round stone weighing two pounds, also covered 
with leather and strongly united to the handle-cover by a thong; a wrist- 
loop was attached to the handle.* 

The armor consisted of many folds of dressed antelope skin, united with 



J Lewis and Clark. Ill, 19. 

2 ]l)i(i., 20. Wyeth, 212, philc 76. 

3 Wyetli, 212-3. 
* Ibid., 212. 

6 Clark, 47. 

« Report 1890, 386. 

7 I,evvi.s and Clark, III. I'l. 

8 Lewis and Clark, 111, 21. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 193 

glue and sand. Thi.s served to protect the bodies of both men and horses.* 
The shield, made from the skin of a buffalo bull's neck, was cut a little 
larger than the desired size to allow for shrinkage, pegged down tight on 
the ground, and covered with a thin layer of clay. Upon this were heaped 
burning coals, which hardened the skin so that it coidd turn the point of a 
lance or a roinid bullet." Lewis gives an account of the ceremony of shield- 
making, to which the protective power of the shield was largely attributed. 
The entire skin of a buffalo bull two years old was first provided; then a 
feast was prepared in which all the warriors, old men, and medicine-men took 
part. A hole of the same diameter as the shield was sunk in the ground 
to the depth of eighteen inches. Several stones were heated red and thrown 
in, then water was poured on them. The green skin, which must not have 
been dried before, was spread over the steaming stones. The flesh side is 
laid next to the ground, and the workmen seize its edges and extend it in 
every direction. As the skin becomes heated, the hair separates and is 
taken off' with the fingers, and the skin contracts until the whole is of the 
required diameter. It is then taken off, laid on a rawhide, and trampled on 
with unmoccasined feet. This trampling continues for several days, when 
the shield is handed to its owner and declared arrow-proof by the per- 
formers. There was an implicit belief in the efficacy of such a shield in 
protecting from arrows and bullets.^ The cloth cover of a modern Shoshone 
shield, in the Museum, is decorated with a crescent-shaped representation 
of the moon, around which nine circular patches denoting stars are ranged 
in a circle. The circumference of the shield is decorated with hawk and 
eagle feathers. 

The Shoshone practised the war-customs of the Prairie tribes, though 
the time of their adoption is uncertain. Signal-fires were lit on the moun- 
tains to indicate the position of a hostile body.'' Lewis and Clark, as well 
as Ross, noted the occurrence of scalping; killing an enemy without scalping 
him was not considered meritorious. To touch the corpse first, and to 
lead a successful war-party constituted equal claims to distinction.^ Bourke 
mentions coup-sticks made of Avillow branches, twelve feet long, and each 
having some distinctive mark, such as feathers, paint, or furs. The owner 
of a coup-stick claimed the horse first struck with it.'' The face was painted 
before going to war. In a skirmish, the chief appeared naked to the waist, 
wearing a gorgeous bonnet of eagle feathers trailing along the ground behind 



1 Ibid. 

2 Bourke, 335. 

3 Lewis and Clark, III, 20. 
* Remy, I, 97. 

5 Lewis and Ulark, III, 29. 

6 Bourke, 305-6. 



194 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History, [^'ol. II, 

the pony's tail.^ In a drill-ride, a standard of eagle feathers attached to a 
twelve-foot lance was borne alongside of the chief .^ 

The scalp-dance was celebrated in the customary way. The scalp Avas 
borne to the village, and elevated on a pole in the center. The dance fol- 
lowed; then the scalp was given to the women and boys, who paraded it up 
and down, occasionally insulting it with taunts.^ In 1876, the Shoshone 
contingent left the United States troops for their reservation to celebrate the 
scalp-dance.* My informants gave two names for the scalp-dance, na'- 
rupinoa and wu'tabEn, or ta-wu'tabEn. It is not quite clear whether 
these terms are strictly s}Tionymous. Only the women were said to have 
taken part in the dance, which was performed in a circle around the cen- 
tral pole or tree from which the scalps were suspended. The men sang 
and beat a small hand-drum in accompaniment. The women wore head- 
bands ornamented with eagle feathers and profusely beaded capes. Ac- 
cording to another account, the men were seated and three or four women 
alternately approached and receded from them. It is perhaps worth noting 
that the scalp-dance plays a prominent part in one of the important m^-ths, 
where Coyote, disguised as an old woman, enters the enemy's camp to 
recover his brother's scalp (page 242). While the men were always killed 
and scalped, women were sometimes taken captive. At times they are said 
to have been maltreated and butchered by the Shoshone women.^ 

Bourkc mentions the mutilation of enemies' corpses in revenge of a young 
warrior's death.** So far as I know, the Ute custom ^ of eating the heart of a 
brave enemy for acquiring courage, or of eating any part of a slain warrior, 
has not been established among the Shoshone proper. 

Just before one of the social evening dances of the Shoshone, I observed 
what was explained as the imitation of an old custom called wupa'rEk. 
A number of men, perhaps as many as fifteen, held the edge of a blanket 
and vigorously beat it with wooden sticks. At the same time, they sang a 
song without changing their positions; there was no drum. I was told that 
formerly, when a man had decid(MJ on undertaking the leadershij) of a war- 
party or horse-raid, he and his companions started out with a buft'alo-hide, 
stopped before every lodge in the camp, held up the blanket as described, 
and began their song. Any one who held and beat the hide was obliged to 
join the expedition. This custom was shared by the Xez Perce.* 

» Ibid., 316. 

2 Ibid., 337. 

3 Irving, (a) 249. 
* Bourke, 318. 

» De Smet. 220. 

6 Bourke, 317. 

7 Burton, 580. 

*> Spinden, The Nez Percg Indians, p. 265. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 195 

In 1840, De Smet witnessed preparations for an expedition against the 
Blackfoot. After the ehief's announeement, the young men ])repared their 
arms, moccasins and rations. The evening before their departure, the chief, 
at the head of his followers, performed a farewell dance at every lodge, re- 
ceiving ever}^diere a piece of tobacco or some other present/ In 1876, 
a somewhat similar custom was noted by Bourke. In the night one of the 
Shoshone, mounted on a pony and stripped almost naked, passed from 
lodge to lodge, stopping in front of each, and praying for the capture of 
plenty of Sioux scalps and ponies. "The inmates would respond with, if 
possible, increased vehemence."^ 

The ratification of a treaty of peace was generally marked by ceremonial 
smoking.'^ Horses were sometimes demanded of the enemy as an indemnity 
for the loss of slain tribesmen.^ Tobacco, blankets, cloth and knives could 
also be offered to the bereaved family at the conclusion of a love-feast; but 
the recipients would distribute the gifts among their companions. Accord- 
ing to De Smet, the surrender of scal])s taken by the foe and the assurance 
that the scalp-dance had not been j)erformed also preceded the formal 
reconciliation, which was followed by the exchange of presents and reciprocal 
adoption of children.' 

GAMES. 

The most popular games of the Shoshone were dice-throwing (do'pedi) 
and the hand-game (na'yahwina). I'he latter is mentioned by Lewis and 
Clark.® It is played both l)y men and women; but, as far as my experi- 
ence goes, all the players are of the same sex. There are one or two players 
on each side, who kneel opposite to each other at a distance of several feet. 
Two small bones, or sticks (tindzo'mo), about three and a half inches long and 
tapering towards both extremities are used; one of them (pi'gap no'toma) 
has sinew or a string wound about its thickened section, the other (do'cabit) 
is plain. The player places the two tindzo'mo under his blanket, hiding 
one in each hand. Then, exposing his hands, he begins to sing and move 
his arms in front of his body and on a level with his shoulder, occasionallv 
stopping to re-adjust the caches behind his back or under the blanket. His 
opjionent carefully watches the singer's hands, sometimes beating his breast 
with one hand, and points out the hand supposed to hide the plain button. 

> De Smet, 220. 

2 Bourke, 304. 

3 Ross, 11, 9.3-96. 

* Rept. Comm. Ind. -Affairs, 1852, 437-8. 

5 De Smet, 679. 

e Lewis and Clark, IV, 37-8. Remy, I, 130. 



196 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

If he tjuesses correctly, it is then his chance to play; if he has mistaken the 
hand, he must surrender one of the ten tally-sticks (dfi mo) with which each 
side starts at the beginning. A spectator may be seated next to one of the 
performers, hitting a piece of tin with a stick as an accompaniment to the 
chant. When there are two opposing pairs, each side plays with two sets. 
Both plain tindzo'mo must then be guessed before the guessers get their 
inning. When neither is guessed, two counters are relinquished. If both 
are guessed, the players continue moving their arms until they have finished 
their song, Avhen they finally give up two tally-sticks. If but one do'cabit is 
correctly indicated, only one set of tindzo'mo is given up and the players 
receive one counter. The game is concluded as soon as one side has lost all 
its counters. In playing, the women swing both arms in the same direction, 
keeping the closed hands, as far as possible, at a uniform distance. The 
men move the hands from in front of the shoulders towards and past each 
other, then back again to the initial point. Spectators sitting in a row with 
the players sometimes join swinging their arms and singing. Formerly, 
beaver testicles and excrements are said to have been used as charms to 
ensure success at the game. 

The dice of the lycmhi people are of two kinds, both called do'pedi. 
In one form of the game four long, thin willow-sticks, convex on one side 
and flattened on the other, with a groove in the center, are thrown on a flat 
stone. Two of the sticks have a burnt mark on either side of the groove, 
midway between the top and bottom. These dice count a tally-stick each, 
when they turn up on the marked side. The other two sticks have four 
marks on cither side of the groove, one i)air near each extremity, and coiuit 
four {)oints each. The convex side does not count in any case. The second 
type of dice is similar in general appearance; but the groove is painted red, 
and the marks are difl'erent (Fig. 11). Two sticks have, one a short, the 
other a longer, central burn on the convex side. 'IMic former is also marked 
on both sides of the groove. The sticks arc thrown on a Hat stone and the 
throws counted l)v means of tally-sticks. In betting, a ])layer wagers so 
many counters tliat he will ccjual a certain number of points. If successful, 
he receives a number of tally-sticks corresponding to his throw. Then the 
o))poncnt tiirows. Unli'ss he ecjuals or surpasses the former throw, he must 
pay the number of sticks wagered; but receives the staked amount if he 
outdoes the first gambler. The following list indicates the manner of 
counting the various throws: 

All convex sides up, 10 

Three convex sides and the groove with marks, 10 

(The maximum throw, made either way, is called do'ea, white.) 



1909. 



Lnwie, The Northern Shoshone 



197 



The convex side with the elongated mark, tlie other sticks 

on the grooved side, 9 

(This throw is called tu'tai, which is not the usual word for nine.) 

The convex sitle with the .short mark, other sticks flat, o 

All sticks on grooved side, 5 

Long mark, other sticks on the flat side, 4 

In other ca.ses, any convex side, 1 

E. g. Short mark + long mark + flat + flat, 2 

+ " " + " + convex, 3 

One stick with |)hun convex side, othei's flat, 1 

(Scoring only one point is called dzfi'na.) 

From the specimen.s of dice collected by St. Clair and Ciilin,* it apjiear.s 

that the markino; of tlu> four .sticks is .slightlv different at Ft. Hall and Wind 




Fig. 11 (50-6417). 8et of Dice. Length, 2.5 cm. 

River; the mode of countin<>; also differs. The.se observer.s also report the 
u.se of a tray with bone dice, which has never been seen at Lemhi by old 
white residents. 

Do'pedi and na'yaliwina arc the gambling-games par excellence. At 
present the sums wagered .sometimes amount to ten or fifteen dollars. 

Athletic games were common. Foot-races (dana'nhion, c6'go-na'- 
ronon) between two contestants and horse-races persist to the present 
day. In the latter the riders often returned to the starting-point after 
going around a stick marking the half-goal. NacS'gwuthun (kicking) 
was a game in which betting was wholly absent. The players were mostly 
boys and young men, sometimes ten on each side, who tried to kick their 
opponents' legs and bodies. Oc>casionally players were knocked down, 
but never .seriously injured. Xaco'gwuthun was simply a form of physical 



' Ctiliii, (Ij) 159, 168-9. 



198 



Anthropological Papers American Mvseitm of A'atnral History. [\o\. II, 



exercise, for there was no goal and neither side "won." WrestHng and 
putting the shot were also favorite ])astimes; in the latter, bets were made 
on the result. 

Three games are still ])layed by the boys in the begiruiing of spring: 
football (danaeoto'En); arrow-shooting; and the hoop-game (wu'raka). 
Danacoto'En is really a football race. There are two balls, one for each 
side. All the contestants, sometimes as many as forty on a side, run in the 
same direction, each party kicking its own ball towards a previously 
determined goal without interfering with its opponent. The players 
do not all take an active part simultaneously. As the goal was formerl}' 
several miles from the starting-])oint, many would 
get tired and droj) out before the completion of 
the game. It was proper for a player to rest 
when exhausted and to have a partner take his 
place. If the ball happens to fall into the brush 
whence it cannot be easily extricated by kicking, 
the players are under no conditions allowed to use 
their hands, though the use of a stick is permissi- 
ble. Of course, the side that first reaches the 
goal wins. In an arrow-game called ho'bak-wu- 
kun' at Lemhi, two competitors shot two feathei-ed 
arrows each at a target in the sha})c of a stick, 
])ctting blankets on the result. This game has, 
according to St. Clair, a more complicated ana- 
logue at Wind River, called doro'wokuna. Wu'- 
raka was ]>layed with a willow hoop and dart 
(no'notsak-bag) ; it is also found at Fort Hall and 
in Wyoming.' As elsewhere, the women played 
shinny. A consi(l(M-able number of players faced 
each other and attem})ted to carry the ball to 
tlunr antagonists' goal. At Wind River, women 
also played with a dum1)-bcll shaped buckskin ball (Fig. 12). The ball 
was picked up with forked sticks and carried or thrown to the opposing 
goal. 

Horse-parades (na'mana'ki) formed a favorite mode of entertainment. 
The men would retire some distance from the camp, don breechdouts and 
war-bonnets, mount, gallop towards the camp, and ride around it. Such 
drill-rides were witnessed bv Bourke ^ and De Smet.^ According to De Smet, 




F'isj:. 11' 1 50 - 2301' - A). 
Buckskin Ball. Length, 37 
cm. 



1 Culin, (b) 495, 499. 

2 Bourke, 337-40. 

3 DeSmet, 217. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 199 

the equestrians ostentatiously displayed their scars, and waved seali)s of 
slain enemies at the ends of poles, uttering exclamations of joy. Sham 
battles on horseback were fought at Lemhi within recent times. 

Dr. Dorsey discovered a game at Winfl River called nawa'tajn.^ Several 
women approach a goal, juggling from two to four balls of mud or gypsum. 
The one who arrives first without dropping any, wins. This game is found 
also among the Bannock, Ute and Paiute. The occurrence of the cup and 
ball game, tops and stilts is also vouched for by Culin and Dorsey.^ Cat's- 
cradle is known to Lemhi boys and girls, and names are given to the figures. 
The most popular were called "boy," "woman," "tipi," "rabbit-snare," 
"fish-trap," and "antelope." In the last of the figures, the string is alter- 
nately loosened and tightened to represent the animal in motion. The native 
name of the game is dii'mabana-nai'dui, wonder-making; but it seems to 
have no ceremonial significance. The individual figures receive analogous 
names, e. g. gwa'are-naidui, antelope-making; du'a-nai'dui, boy-making. 

The children have the usual games: the girls play with buckskin dolls 
and model cradle-boards, and construct small lodges; while the boys shoot 
arrows, and race in imitation of their elders. The Lemhi boys of to-day 
are fond of playing with slingshots (u'gwuti), using a crotched stick spanned 
by a rubber-band. 

ART. 

Of the realistic art of the Shoshone very little is known. Petroglyphs of 
largely realistic character have been reported from Idaho, Utah and the 
Wind River country and reproduced by jNIallery.^ A pictographic drawing 
published by the same writer * is in the Plains style, and Irving mentions 
"fantastically painted" lodges,'^ probably referring to semi-realistic motives 
of similar character. The Museum contains a pair of moccasins from Wind 
River, which are rather unique in being decorated with realistic representa- 
tions rather than with the customary geometrical patterns. One moccasin 
is painted with the roughly sketched figure of a woman, the sun above her, 
a flower at her right, and a rainbow at her left. Its mate bears the figure 
of a horse (in red) on the corresponding portion of the upper; while on the 
sides there are representations of a tipi, a snake (green) and a bear (blue). 
A large drum is decorated on one side with the painting of a bird (Fig. 
19, a). 



1 Dorsey, (a) 24-25. Culin, (b) 712-4. 

2 Culin, ibid., 554, 732. 

3 Mallery, 228-29; (b) 128-29, 680-681. 
■» Mallery, (a) 215. 

« Irving, (b) I, 283. 



200 Anfbropoloyical Papers American Mnseiim of Natural H-istori/. [Vol. TI, 

Decorative Art. So far as the general features of their decorative art are 
concerned, the Slioshone are a typical Plains ])e()])le, jiainting ])arfleches, 
rawhide envelopes and scabbards, and embroidering with ((uill and bead- 
work such objects as leggings, moccasins, soft bags, and pouches. On the 
Wind River Reservation, ]\Ir. St. Clair succeeded in getting interjn'ctations 
for some of the decorative designs. 'I'hese were usually designated as 
representing geographical features, such as hills, creeks, or roads. A few 
examples, also indicating the occurrence of color symbolism, may be quoted 
from his notes. On a parflcche ^ the obtuse triangles in the central rectangle 
and the smaller triangles in the longitudinal border-strips represent moun- 
tains, the red line in the center stands for a river, and the right-angled tri- 
angles are tipis. On a second ])arfleche, - the green rectangle in the center 
represents trees, its red frame the ground, the blue halves of the diamond a 
lake, the yellow transverse line in the diamond an inlet. The smaller obtuse 
triangles at the siiles represent mountains, the larger ones (dark blue) timber 
on the mountains. Above and below the central field, there are moimtains. 
The yellow isosceles triangle approaching the frame is the sun shining on the 
mountains; the green obtuse triangle denotes grass, and the two red triangu- 
lar spaces represent the ground. In the corner squares the triangles are 
lodges, the external yellow strip is sunlight, the green strip represents grass. 
While largely geographical, the interpretations obtained by Mr. St. Clair 
are not exclusively so; prongs are designated as rays of the sun, two mutually 
perpendicular strij)es on a moccasin represent the horned-toad, and a cross 
is said to convey the idea of exchange. Other symbolical ideas connected 
with decorative patteims have been described by Professor Boas.^ 

At Lemhi, all efforts to secure interpretations proved futile. A single 
parflcche design was, after j)ersistent inquiry, called mando'towa; but this 
term jiroved to mean sim))ly "corners." It is therefore necessary to treat 
Shoshone art from a strictly objective point of view. As a thorough dis- 
cussion of Plains art, including that of the Shoshone, has been undertaken 
by Professor Kroeber,^ it is best not only to follow his treatment in the matter 
of nomenclature, but also to refrain from a detailed re-consideration, except 
so far as to add some supj)lementary notes. 

In considering embroidered work, Kroeber finds it desirable to give 
separate treatment to the types of moccasin decoration. He distinguishes 
three princij)al ty|)es: the .strij)e-border type; the type with a single geo- 
metric pattern covering the entire front of the moccasin; and the form with a 



1 Kroeber, (g). Plate X, figure 1 

2 Ibid., Plate X, figure 2. 

3 Boas, (a) 489 ct neq. 

4 Kroeber, (g), 151-179. 



1909. 



Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 



201 



figure on the front of the moccasin in the middle of the decorative field, the 
figure neither filling the entire space nor bearing an exact relation to its 
outline.^ The third class comprises various central figures, such as the 
crossing angle, circle, U-figure, and transverse zigzag. While the Ute show 
a high development of the stripe-border pattern, the Shoshone, according 
to Kroeber, rarely employ this t^'pe; their characteristic forms are the round- 
head and angle-across. The second type is used less frequently, and of 
the U-figure there are but a few scattering examples. This would ally the 
moccasin-decoration of the Shoshone most closely with that of the Gros 
Ventres (Atsina). 

So far as the Lemhi people are concerned, this statement of the ca.se 
requires modification. With them three styles of decoration are especially 
popular. One is characterized by the circu- 
lar design (Plate i, Fig. 4), which Kroeber 
recognizes as typically Shoshone. The 
Blackfoot U-pattern (Plate i, Fig. 3) consti- 
tutes the second type. It was generally 
joined with a transverse bar at the instep 
and small isosceles triangles, which, in a 
single Museum specimen, are superseded 
by the feather-design. The third style is 
marked by a simple longitudinal stripe 
perpendicular to a horizontal bar (Plate i, 
Fig. 2). From the extremities of the bar 
and of the toe-end of the stripe, there often 
extend isosceles triangles. In some cases, 
the stripe slightly tapers towards the instep. 
A single triangle in the center of the toe-end 
of the stripe may replace two such triangles 
at the extremities. These facts are of some 

importance, because they lead to a revision of Kroeber's scheme of tribal 
relationships in the matter of moccasin decoration. If the Shoshone angle 
and circle designs are shared by the Gros Ventres, the frequency of U-pat- 
terns indicates an equally close relation with Blackfoot art; while the 
presence of stripe-])atterns no longer warrants a shar]) se])aration from the 
decorative type of the Ute. 

In discussing the distribution of eml)roidered designs generally, Kroeber 
finds considerable similarity between Ute and Shoshone art.- Both, es])e- 
cially the former, employ the "spreading design" (Fig. 13), as well as the 




FifT. 13 (50-2382-A). Spreading 
Design on Moccasin. Length, 23 cm. 



' Kroeber, (g) 157, figure 2. 
2 Kroeber, (g) 155. 



.J^ 






202 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. II, 

forked, pronged, diamond, triangle, and slanting bar design.^ The Sho- 
shone, according to Kroeber, occasionally use the diagonal checker-row; 
but otherwise lack the characteristic Blackfoot patterns, i. e. the checker 
or step triangle, and the stripe, as well as the rectangular cross, feather- 
design and box-s(|uare of the Sioux. 
— Again an inspection of Lemhi beadwork tends 

to establish a closer relationship with the Black- 
foot. The Blackfoot mountain-design, a check- 
ered or plain step triangle, occurs rather frequently. 
It is found on dance-leggings (Fig. 14), moccasins 
(Plate I, Fig. 1), belts, and hat-bands. Sometimes 
the union of two such triangles results in thestepped 
rhombus; in other cases, the approaching bases 
are separated, and the line joining them may be 
interru])ted in the middle by a rectangular or 
narrow hexagonal figiu'e. The rectangular cross, 
though not so frequent, is not wholly absent. It 
is found on a small amulet, an armlet, dance leg- 
gings (Fig. 15), hatbands, and appears very 
clearly as the central design within a stepped 
rhombus (Plate i, Fig. 3). It is also worth men- 
tioning the occurrence of the angular horseshoe 
design (Fig. 15) common among the Blackfoot 
and Crow. A further jioint of similarity with the 
Blackfoot is noticeable in the general color effects 
of Shoshone, and more ])articularly Lemhi, head- 
work. While the majority of the Plains tribes 
show a predilection for wliitc backgrounds, the 
Blackfoot and Shoshone use white less frequently 
and are inclined to employ greenish and bluish 
colors. 

Gauntlets made for trade, and sometimes 
moccasins as well, are frequently decorated with 
floral designs. A number of native informants 
agree in considering this style quite recent. 
Somewhat similar designs occur on Xez Perce pouches. 

In Shoshone parfleche painting, Kroeber recognizes a distinct style 
constituting the second of his three types of rawhide decoration in the 



Fig. 14(50-2302). Beaded 
Strip on Dance - legfjiiij?. 
Length, 73 cm. 

Fig. 15 (50-6419). Beaded 
Strip on Dance - legging. 
Length, 69 cm. 



1 In the illustration.s, colors are represented as follows: light blue, by diagonal shading; 
dark blue, by heavier diagonal shading; green, by horizontal shading; red, by vertical shading; 
yellow, by dotting. The drawings were made by R. Weber. 



1909.1 



Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 



203 



Plains. Its characteristic feature is the partial substitution of combinations 
of square and triangular elements for the exclusively triangular designs of 
other tribes. While there are many triangular figures, the square-and- 
triangular type is so characteristic, according to Kroeber, that very fcw 







Fig. 16 (a, 50-1163: b, 50-1126; c, 50-1166; [d, 50-1138). Patfleche Decoration. 

Shoshone parfleches are wholly without rectangular motives; ?. r. without 
either a central rectangle, corner squares in combination with triangles, or a 
heavy square-containing border-stripe. A briefer reference to these features 
was also made by Professor Boas some years ago.' 



1 Boas, (a) 487-8. 



204 Anthropological Papers American Mvsevm of Natural History. [\'ol. II, 




Fig. 17 (50-6430-B). Parfleclir 
Decoration. Length, 59 cm. 



It does not .seem to nie that Shoshone parfleches are adequately defined 
hi this characterization. It is true, as Kroeber points out, that there is a 
strong tendency to develop longitudinal border-stripes, often consisting of 
corner squares connected by obtuse triangles. Such Ijorders, occasionally 
filled with ])urely triangular designs, occur in sixteen out of twenty-two 
|)arfleches examined. Of the.se, five represent the characteristic sub-type 
with a central rectangle touched al)ove and below by the a])ex of an isosceles 

triangle and enclosing a lozenge (Fig. IG, c). 
Four have the section between the border- 
stripes bisected by a blank or varicolored 
stripe separating two symmetrical patterns in 
each of which an obtuse triangle is flanked 
by two right-angled ones (Fig. 17). One 
specimen produces a similar effect, though 
tlie bisecting stripe disappears. The re- 
maining bordered parfleches present individ- 
ual features in the center field. There may 
be a lozenge, split (Fig. IG, d) or unsplit ; 
a pair of symmetrical i.sosceles triangles 
with nearly touching apices .separated by a narrow oblong (Fig. IG, b), or 
two homogeneous triangles, with their apices directed downward, the ])oint 
of one resting on the base of the other (Fig. 1<S, c); or a longitudinal central 
strip bisecting two diamonds of which the split components contain smaller 
triangles (Fig. 18, d). The jiarfleches without square-triangular borders 
are sometimes decorated in Arajiaho fashion, — long, narrow patterns 
being disposed in longitudinal stripes (Fig. 16, a). In a Lemhi specimen 
of this sort, the center of the decorative field is occu})ied by an elongated 
hourglass with its halves containing smaller parallel triangles, and by large 
diamonds on either side enclosing a .series of successively smaller diamonds. 
Irrespective of the presence of border-stripes, a rather ditt'erent jiesthetic 
effect from those previously mentioned results, 1 think, from the tlivision 
of the decorative field into three portions by two transverse lines. In one 
specimen (Fig. IS, b), the uj)per and lower sections produced in this way are 
occupied by triangles; while the middle portion has a diamond in the center, 
with two hourglass figures at the sides, and obtuse triangles at the edges of 
the flaj). 

From the foregoing enumeration of decorative motives, it appears that 
border-stripes are very common among the Shoshone. The development 
of certain "square-and-triaiigular" patterns, coupled with their rarity 
among other tribes, merits emphasis, and the diagnostic value of such de- 
signs in determining the provenience of a given parfleche is considerable. 



1909.1 



Loxrie, The Northern Shoshone. 



205 



On the other hand, it cannot be maintained that the bulk of Shoshone par- 
fleche decoration conforms to the square-triangular, or any other single type. 
There is undoubtedly a relatively large number of parfleches of j)urely 
triangular type; and the question may be raised whether the several "square- 
triangular" motives themselves are not diverse in their aesthetic effects 







c. d. 

Fig. 18 (a, 50-6-130-A: 1), .50-2295; c, .50-1127: d, .50-1189). Piufieclu' Decoiatioii. 



and should not be groujietl in several distinct classes. A classification, 
moreover, which would wholly separate a parfleche such as is pictured in 
Fig. 17, from that in Fig. 18, a, however useful it may be in bringing out 
tribal ))eculiarities, no longer holds when the art of a tribe is considered 
per se. 



206 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. II, 

Music. 1\\() Uiiids of tlrums (wi'towE) are in common use among the 
Shoshone of to-chiy. The small hand-drum of the Plains is about thirty- 
five centimetres in diameter, covered on one side with horse or cowhide, 
and on the other side is provided with intersecting or netted thongs. The 
large drum (Fig. 19) is hollowed out of a section of a cottonwood tree and 
covered with strips of elk-hide above and below. These are perforated 
along the circumference of the drum, and united by a thong passing in an 
alternately vertical and diagonal direction from the hole in one drum-skin 
to the corresponding hole in the other. Both covers are decorated, one 
side bearing the realistic representation of a bird. . Usually there are four 
loops, allowing the suspension of the drum from pegs driven into the ground. 
^Yillow drumsticks have their ends wra{)pe(l with buckskin or cloth. The 
flute Avas formerly used, but has disappeared among the Lemhi. As else- 
where, it Avas employed in courtship. It was made of the wood of a berry- 
bearing shrub, had from four to six holes, and was about sixty centimetres 
in length. The ^Museum contains two whistles. One, used in the sun-dance 
is of eagle wing-bone, to which an eagle plume is attached. The other is 
of wood, about thirty-five centimetres long, and ornamented with ribbons, 
a feather and plumes. A notched board used as a musical instrument will 
be described in connection with dances. 



SOCIAL ORGAN IZ A TIOX. 

The social organization of the Siioshone was marked by extreme sim- 
plicity. No trace of a totemic or other clan division has ever been found 
among them. As stated by Kroeber,^ all the Shoshone proper were desig- 
nated as no'mo, people; while practically all the local groups had names 
consisting of the Avord "eater," to which the kind of food was prefixed. I 
obtained the following list of bands at Ross Fork, Idaho: A'gai-dika (Sal- 
mon-eaters) at Lemhi; "^I'uku-rika (Sheep-eaters) in the Lemhi district, 
now practically extinct; Ku'embe-rika (Squirrel-eaters) in southern Idaho; 
"Wa'ra-rika (Eaters of an unidentified species of seeds); Ya'han-dika 
(Groundhog-eaters); To'sa-wi'h' (White-Knives) in Nevada.- To these a 
Lemhi informant added the Tu'ba-dika (Pine-nut eaters) of Nevada. The 
Bannock are distinguished as Ba'naite. The Wind River people as a whole 
are called Ko'gohue (Guts), and those of Fort Hall Po'hogwe (Sage-brush 
people). Clark gives the Wah-ra-ree-ca as a subdivision of the Bannock.^ 

' Kroeber, (d) 102. 

- Simpson, 47, places tlicm alDiii; the Huinlxildt River. 

3 Clark, 60. 



1909.1 



Lowie, 'The Northern Shoshone. 



207 





Fig. 19 (50-2446). Designs on a Wind River Drum. Diameter, 56 cm. 



208 Anthropuloyicul Pdpers American Museian of Xutural Ilistory. [Vol. II, 

Ross recognizes three divisions: the Shirrv-cHkas (Ca'ro-ri'ka — dog- 
eaters), War-are-ree-kas (wrongly translated fish-eaters), and Ban-at-tees, 
"robbers," whose name is remarkably like the Shoshone "Ba'naite" for the 
Bannock.^ He describes the Shirrv-dika as superior to the other two groups, 
predominating in a common council and subsisting to a considei'able extent 
on the buffalo. In camping together, each division remained distinct, the 
Shirry-dikas occupying, the central space and being flanked on eith(M- side 
by the War-are-ree-kas or Ban-at-tees. It is rather curious to note in this 
connection that the Shoshone are reported as abstaining from dog-flesh and 
that Ca'ro-ri'ka is undoul)tedly the Shoshone name for the Ara{)aho.-' 

The Shoshone sometimes gathered in villages; but isolated families, 
or small bands of families, were frequently encountered by the early explor- 
ers. The camp was pitched and Ijroken according to exigency; the village 
visited by Lewis in August, 1S05, had removed two miles higher up the river 
when sighted by Clark a few days later.^ It consisted of about twenty-five 
lodges; the po])ulation was estiniat(>(l at about one hundred warriors and 
three hundred women and children.' Larger villages of about one hundred 
and fifty lodges were found in the thirties among the Green River and Bear 
River pc()])le.' "^rhe formation of a camp-circle was remembered by some 
of my infonnaiits. As in the Plains, it was used for councils and dances, 
in times of war, and while engaged in a tribal chase; the horses were kept 
inside. It <)])cned towards the east, as did the individual lodges. It is 
uncertain when the Shoshone adopted the canij)-circle and to which of the 
local groups it was known. 

From the accounts of early travelers, it is quite clear that the powers of 
the chiefs were advisory rather than dictatorial." "Little" chiefs attained 
their dignity by the performance of warlike dectls, and there were sometimes 
as many as ten in a single community. The head-chief was general director 
of the camp, presided at councils, received visitors from other tribes, and 
conducted hunting and fishing" excursions; but beyond this his power 
rested simplv on his personal influence. To the authority of such men as 
Tendoy of Lemhi, and Washakie of the Wind River country, governmental 
recognition doubtless lent additional weight. The chief seems to have 
enjoved no ])riviieges of any kind. At a dance or hunt, he was a.ssisted by 
di'rakonc, policemen, armed with quirts. At Fort Hall, at least, a camp 



1 Ross. I, J49-.51 253. 

-' Doiiienech, II. 61. Mooney, (a) 954. 

3 Lewis and Clark, II, .379. 

■< Ibid., II, .370. 

5 Wyetli, 219. Sdioolcraft, V, 198. 

« Lewi.s and Clark, 370. Remy, I, 128. 

7 W'yetli, 207. 



1909.] Loirie, The Northern Shoshone. 209 

crier announced important occurrences. The head-chieftaincy was not 
hereditary. Sometimes a chief was succeeded by his son; but this was not 
by any means necessary, nor was it necessarily the oldest son that fell heir 
to the position. In 1906, Tu'])ambe was generally recognized as Tendoy's 
heir-apparent, though there were several older sons. It was noticeable that 
at councils he played a very insignificant part, hardly ever speaking. This 
was probably due to his comparative youth. However, it should be re- 
marked that there was obviously a limit to the deference paid to old age. 
Tendoy was certainly losing in prestige during the last years of his life, and 
the op])osing faction contended he was getting too old. Similarly, a sick 
Indian declared he could no longer have confidence in the efficiency of the 
older medicine-man of the reservation, because he Avas getting too weak. 
Al)ility as an orator seems to have counted for something in the estimation 
of a chief; nowadays, in the absence of war-raids, probably more so than 
formerly. 

Neither the chief nor any other member of the tribe exercised judicial 
finictions. ^Iinxlcrers were regarded as irresponsible (ke'-cuant), and were 
dealt with by the individual family and friends of the victim. In cases ot" 
adultery, the husband sometimes shot one of the offender's horses. This 
mode of pimishment does not, however, seem to have been popular at Lemhi 
within recent times. Several years ago, INIo'bi, the physically most powerful 
man on the reservation, suspected his wife of infidelity, and shot one of her 
lover's horses. The people were indignant, but were afraid to oppose ^Id'bi. 
At last, several of the strongest united, attacked and bound him while gam- 
bling, and had him sentenced to prison by the Indian judges appointed by 
the government. 

Terms of Relationship. The following terms of relationship were ob- 
tained: 

A'po, Father, father's brother. 

Bl'a a'po. Father's older brother (big father). 

Na'gahai a'po, Father's younger brother. 

Bl'a, Mother. 

G6'nu, Paternal grandfather, (also used for reciprocal relationship). 

Do'go, Maternal " ( " " " " " ) 

Hu'tsi, Paternal grandmother ( " " '"' " " ) 

Ga'gu, Maternal " ( " " " " " ) 

Dzo, Great-grandparent. 

A'rabe, Maternal uncle, sister's son 

A'ra, 

Ba'ha, Aunt. 

Ba'vi, Older brother, cousin. 

Da'me, Younger " " 

Ba'dzi, Older sister, "' 



210 Ayithropologiral Papers American MuseiiTn of Xatural History. [Vo. II, 

Na'mi, Younger sister, cousin. 

Du'a, Son. 

Ba'di, Daughter. 

Gwu'aho, Wife. Never used in direct adtlress. 

Gwu'apo, Husband. " " " " " 

No mondo'gotsi, My father-in-law. 

No moga'gutsi, My mother-in-hiw. 

No hu'tsombia, My son's wife. 

No mu'napo, My daughter's husband. 

No dedz, My brother-in-hiw. 

Marriage. — Xo information could be obtained as to any restrictions of 
marriage. It was expressly denied by several informants that first cousins 
were barred from matrimony. Childhood betrothals were common a hun- 
dred years ago, and still occur. The father of the girl received horses or 
mules in payment at the time of the contract. The girl remained w'ith her 
parents until puberty, w^hen she was surrendered to her fiance Avith gifts 
equalling, at times, those originally paid for her.^ That gifts to the parents 
were essential Avas, however, strongly denied by some of my informants. 
Sometimes a young man proposed by wrapping a blanket about the girl; 
acceptance of the garment indicated consent. In case of a rebuff, the pro- 
posal was sometimes repeated several times. Formerly girls were married 
at a very early age, and some Shoshone express misgivings as to the post- 
ponement of matrimony caused by modern conditions. A case where a girl 
was w^edded at twelve was, however, brought to my notice. Under modern 
conditions it has been customary for a young man to live with his wife's 
relatives and work for her family if he had no land of his own. Polygamy 
was fairly common, l)iit the wives w^ere not usually sisters. Tendoy onc-e 
had five wives at a time; in 1906 he had three, btit lived with only one, the 
other two staying Avith their adult sons. The practice of the levirate is 
reported from the Wind River Reservation.- Though a man could freely 
dispose of his wife, irregular intercourse without his consent was resented. 
The offended husband could demand a horse as indemnity or, in case of 
refusal, shoot one of the lover's horses.^ Divorce was easily consummated, 
and involved no restrictions as to future unions. "Grover Cleveland" 
divorced his wife in order to marry another woman; his wife also re- 
married. 'After the death of his younger brother's wife, Kobitsak gave 
him his own (according to a white informant, in exchange for two horses), 
and wedded another woman. They continued to be nCxt-door neighbors, 
and the Avomen visited each other practically every day. Elopements also 

1 Lewis and Clark, II, 370-1. 

2 Report 1890. 632. 

3 Report 1890, 631. hut cf. iiagre 209 of this paper. 



1909.] Louie, The Northern Shoshone. 211 

occurred. Some years ago a man fled to Wyoming with another man's 
wife, and returned after several years' absence, when the husband's anger 
had passed away. 

Husband and wife do not address each other by the specific relationship 
terms employed in the third person, because "they are afraid to do so." 
Instead, they use the generic terms for man (do'napo) and woman (wai'pe). 
The piother-in-law taboo is strictly observed. Only crazy (ke'cuant) men 
would venture to speak to their mothers-in-law. 



VARIOUS CUSTOMS. 

Names. — Clark gives some notes on the naming of Bannock children, 
which presumably apply to the Shoshone as well. Children were named 
by their parents about the age of ten or twelve, but sometimes an old man 
would bestow his name on a young one. Many girls were called after 
different species of frogs. Children were not named after a dog, wolf, 
coyote, or fox.^ Individual peculiarities were often referred to, and a new 
name was assumed after some notable achievement.^ Tendoy (Climber) 
was so called, because in his childhood his mother had once refused to grant 
him a request, whereupon he flew into a passion and began to climb a tree. 
The chief visited by Lewis and Clark had two names, Black Gun and He- 
does-not-walk (Ke mI'awE). In token of his friendship for the whites, he 
bestowed his second name on Clark, who was thereafter called Ke ml'awE.^ 
The Lemhi people still show great reluctance in divulging their native names; 
a middle-aged man who had lived with the whites for many years obstinately 
denied having a Shoshone name, though it was subsequently discovered by 
chance. 

The following men's names were noted: To'sa-wu'ra, White-Bear, 
O'ho-wu'ra, Yellow-Bear; Tu'modzo, Black-Moustache; Tu'dzomon- 
do'mi, Master-of-Black-Beads; Ko'bi-tsak, Lhtle Jack; YE-hu', Poor- 
Man; Ka'nu-kwac, Grouse-Tail; Ti'carimip, Charger; Gwi'na-mo'bi, 
Eagle-Nose; Wi'hitEmbo'gona, Iron-Ball; Ku'bui, Squinting- Eye; Gwi'd- 
am-ba'bi, Ani Frater; E'nga-gwacu, Red-Shirt; Tu'pambe, Black-Hair; 
Wu'ra-yo'go, Cum-ursis-copulat. The following are women's names: 
Toma', Cloudy; Da'bEnt cote, Little-Sun ; Tsi'dzi, Baby; Ya'mpatsi, Wild- 
Carrot; Na'soai, Not- Ashamed; To'kaidzo, Black-Forehead. 

Salutation. In recent times, the handshake has become the symbol of 

> Clark, 61, 267. 

2 Lewis and Clark, III, 29. 

3 Ibid., II, 367; III, 29. 



212 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

a friendly welcome, both in receiving white and Indian visitors. A hundred 
years ago an embrace was customary. The left arm was put over the guest's 
right shoulder, clasping the back, while the left cheek touched his. At the 
same time, the host repeatedly shouted "ah-hi'-c," which Lewis interprets 
as an expression of great joy.^ 

Smoking. — The most common type of pipe nowadays employed by the 
Lemhi Shoshone consists of a narrow stem of currant or rose-brier (dzl'ampi 
wood), about twenty-five centimeters in length, with a small red-stone 
bowl. One pipe had a willow stem, only fifteen or eighteen centimeters 
long, inserted in the middle of the red-stone bowl, which was not cylindrical, 
but globular, with a very marked flattening at both sides. The manufacture 
of these pipes seemed to be the monopoly of a few men. Large catlinite 
pipes, such as are commonly found on the Plains, were rare. The pouches 
containing the few specimens seen were said to have been obtained from 
the Blackfeet. I saw a single tomahawk pipe. The old straight-pipe 
(tu'na rowe) of the Shoshone as described by Lewis in 1805 ^ consisted of a 
dense, semi-transparent green stone about seven centimeters long, of an 
oval figure, and very highly ])olished, the bowl and stem being in the same 
direction. A small piece of burnt clay was placed in the bottom of the bowl 
to separate the tobacco from the end of the stem; it is of an irregularly 
rounded figure, fitting the tube imperfectly in order that the smoke might 
pass. From Lewis's drawing, it appears that the stem was about three 
times as long as the bowl. This does not tally with my informant, who, 
in a crude sketch, made the bowl slightly longer than the stem, somewhat 
like the Californian specimen pictured by ]\IcGuire.^ Ross describes the 
bowls as of stone with large heavy stems of ash-wood almost a meter long,* 
Clark speaks of a soft greenish stone forming the small bowl;'^ while, ac- 
cording to Wyeth, the stems were about sixty centimeters long and the bowl 
was made of fuller's earth or steatite." 

The Shoshone never cultivated tobacco. Lewis found that the Lemhi 
used the same tobacco as the Minnitarees, ]\Iandans and Arikaras; and 
states that they obtained it from their eastern neighbors and from Shoshone 
bands living to the south. ^ Ross describes their tobacco as a low, brownish 
plant, thriving particularly in sandy or barren soil, having the same aromatic 
flavor and narcotic effect as ours, though weaker. It was dried, rubbed 



» Lewis and Clark, II, 340. 

-' Lewis and Clark, II, 341-2. 

3 McGuire, 390. 

■I Ross, II, 109. 

5 Clark, 303, 353. 

6 Wyeth, 214. 

7 Lewis and Clark, II, 342. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 213 

between the hands, or pounded with stone, until it was quite fine. It left 
a gummy taste in the mouth. ^ According to my informants, the Shoshone 
employed kinikkinik (ti'mayiha) obtained by drying the leaves of the 
dzi'ampi (wild-rose bush ?) ; they knew that their Cree friends use the bark 
of e'ngabit ho'pi (lit. red-tree). The Shoshone, however, also use red- 
willow bark. Remy relates that the kinikkinik of the Utah Snakes was 
derived either from the dried inner bark of a species of Cornus, or from the 
dried leaves of Vaccinium and another (unidentified) shrub.^ 

In smoking, the fumes are expelled from the nostrils ; ^ sometimes they 
were swallowed on ceremonial occasions.^ Though nowadays the pipe is 
sometimes passed from left to right, the proper method, observed at councils 
or meetings with visitors, is for the chief, or host, to take a few whiffs, pass 
it to the left, until the last visitor has smoked, and then to have the pipe 
handed back unsmoked to the chief, who cleans the bowl with a tamper 
and sends it on the second round. I never saw the pipe offered to the six 
directions in a ceremonial way, and the chief expressly stated that this was 
a Sioux custom not practised by his tribe. Lewis's account, however, is 
conclusive on this point. At his reception, Ke-mi'awE had a fire kindled 
in a two-foot circle cleared of grass in the center of the lodge, lit his pipe, 
rose from his seat, and after a brief address pointed the stem towards the 
four cardinal points beginning with the east and ending with the north. 
Next he presented the pipe to Lewis, but drew it back three times; then 
offered it to the sky and the fire-place, smoked three whiffs, held it for 
Lewis and his companions to smoke, and finally passed it to his own men.^ 

A similar account is given for the Green River Snakes by De Smet ® 
who adds that each smoker had a different way of taking the pipe, one 
turning it around, another describing a semicircle before accepting it, the 
next holding the bowl in the air, and so forth. De Smet connects these 
peculiarities with the specific directions of each man's manitou. Ross saw 
the pipe held first east, th»n west, south and north; but it was not offered to 
the sky. A forked stick taken from a medicine bag was employed to place 
in the bowl the bit of burning horse-dung used for lighting the pipe.^ 

Lewis notes the queer custom that the Shoshone, before smoking, re- 
moved their moccasins, and, on one occasion, requested their white visitors 
to do likewise. This act, he states, involves a sacred obligation of sincerity 



1 Ross, I, 272. 

2 Remy, I, 130. 

3 Ibid., 131. 

* Ross, II, 93-6. 

5 Lewis and Clark, II, 342. 

6 De Smet, 217-8. 

7 Ross, II, 93-6. 



214 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

of friendship, and the wish that if the smoker is disloyal, he may always go 
bare-foot.' Of this caistom I found absolutely no recollection, except that 
one old man stated that the medicine-men were formerly wont to remove 
their moccasins when smoking during the treatment of their patients. 
Though Clark regards the Shoshone as less addicted to smoking than the 
Plains tribes,- Lewis and Clark, as Avell as Ross, found them excessively 
fond of tobacco.^ According to Ross, they even claimed to have been the 
first smokers in the beginning of the world, and to have instructed all the 
other Indians in the art.^ 

MenMnial Lodge. — During the menses, the women retire to a special 
lodge (hu'na-gan'), where they stay by themselves, abstaining from meat 
and fish. This custom is rigorously observed at the present day. Formerly, 
the woman's sole sustenance during this period consisted of seeds and roots, 
nowadays bread is also allowed her. It is believed that if a woman were to 
eat meat, the flow of blood would continue indefinitely. No one is supposed 
to go into the lodge of a menstruating woman. Long ago, a squaw infringed 
this law; she began to vomit, and died. Men approaching catamenial blood 
would also vomit and die. During the latter part of pregnancy, a woman 
retires to the same lodge. No man comes near her, but her women friends 
may sit at some distance outside and talk to her. For several days before 
the expected birth of the child, both husband and wife abstain from meat 
and fish.' The institution of the hu'na-gan', like the origin of menstruation 
itself, is attributed to Coyote. 

Burial. — In the old days, when a Lemhi died, his body was wrapped in 
blankets, tied up, and deposited in the clefts in the rocks. The tribal grave- 
yard was formerly in the gullies several miles beyond the reservation on the 
Lemhi River, a site of rather difficult access streAvn with the bones of horses. 
Nowadays the corpses are buried in the ground. Tree-burial is known as a 
practice of other tribes, but Avas never resorted to by these Indians. Cre- 
mation has been cited as an occasional custom of the Nevada Snakes; but 
among them also concealment among rocks was the usual method." Some- 
times the corpse was simply abandoned, and rubbish, or the remains of the 
wikiup, thrown on toj). In Nevada, Hoffmann once discovered the body of 
a young boy, which had been disposed of in this fashion.^ 

The relatives and friends present gifts to the deceased, and a woman 

> Lewis and Clark. II, 340, 363, 365. 

2 Clark, 303, 353. 

3 Lewis, II, 351; Ross, I, 257. 
•• Ross, I, 272. 

« Remy, I, 126-7. 

6 Yarrow, 143. 

7 Ibifi.. 153-4. 



1909.] Loine, The Northern Shoshone. 215 

kneeling beside the corpse shouts into its ears the names of the donors and 
the character of their offerings. A missionary at Ross Fork is said to have 
ingratiated herself with the Fort Hall people by regularly appearing at 
funerals with a gaudy handkerchief, or some similar gift, for the departed. 
According to two informants, the following words are addressed to the 
dead : — 

"CVnd mfaiy". Dza'Ent co'gopE pi'dehunk. 
You are going. A good land reach. 

O'yogE no'mo ma-bu'i, dza'Ent nS'mo, dza-na'buin. 

All Indians see, good Indians, good-looking (ones). 

Ke ko'oi. Ik ke dza'Ent c5'gopE; dzu'guputsi. 

Don't return. This not good land (is); it is old. 

Dza'Ent o mi'agwain." 

It is good for you to go. 

After the death of a Lemhi medicine-man in 1906, Dr. Murphy informs 
me, the Indians lamented his loss for four or five days. Three horses were 
covered with ribbons, mirrors, feathers and tawdry blankets, and kept on 
exhibition. When the corpse had been deposited in the ground, the finery 
was also buried, and the horses were killed. De Smet gives the following 
account.^ After the hair of the dead man's relatives is cut and the manes 
and tails of all his horses have been docked, all* his possessions are piled up 
in the middle of the lodge, the tent-poles are cut into little pieces, and the 
property is burnt. Then the corpse is tied upon the man's favorite horse, 
which is led to the edge of a neighboring river. There the warriors chase 
the animal, surround him, and with yells force him to leap into the current 
with his master's body. Then, yelling louder, they tell him to transport his 
master without delay to the land of souls. Remy saw a chief's best-looking 
wife killed with the horses. " After two horses had been sacrificed, the unfor- 
tunate young woman stepped without flinching on the tomb of her husband, 
whose brother forthwith cut ofi^ her hair, and then shot her through the 
heart. — Earth was heaped over the two bodies, the horses were buried 
beside them, and, after hiding the victim's hair at some distance, all was 
over." The mother of the deceased prostrated herself every evening at the 
grave, singing a mourning song.^ 

The mourning women gashed their legs above and below the knee and 
had their hair cro}>ped. Sometimes the arms and ears were also scarified. 
The men, as a rule, only clipped the hair in the back of the neck; but Lewis 
and Clark's host had cut all his hair quite short.^ The personal property 

1 De Smet, 219. 

2 Remy, I, 131-2. 

3 Ibid., II. 372. 



216 Anthropological Papers American Mxiseum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

of the deceased was either distributed among the friends of the natural heirs, 
or burnt. It is reported from Nevada that during mourning the survivors 
follow the paths traveled by the lost relative when alive, — a custom called 
"hunting the dead." * The lodge of the deceased is abandoned. At Inkom, 
Idaho, my interpreter had just deserted a comfortable log-cabin to live in a 
tent on account of his uncle's death. In order to avoid this necessity, a 
hopelessly sick person was sometimes removed to a solitary wikiup at some 
distance from the general camping-ground. - 



DANCES. 

The ceremonial organization of the Shoshone, so far as they were not 
directly influenced by their neighbors, was extremely simple. I could find 
no trace of age-societies; and, while Mr. St. Clair discovered a wolf-dance at 
Wind River, I gather from his oral description, as well as that furnished by 
Culin,^ that it had nothing to do with a grouping on the basis of supernatural 
experiences, but corresponds to the Lemhi ta'cayuge, with apparently 
much greater development of body-painting. The sun-dance (da'gu-wo' no) 
is performed at Wind River and Fort Hall; it was, of course, known to the 
Lemhi by hearsay, and had been witnessed by some on other reservations. 
However, the older men agreed that it had never been celebrated among 
them. As the chief remarked, they "were afraid" of the ceremony because 
of the several days' abstention from food and drink. The lack of the sun- 
dance among the Lemhi, taken with an informant's statement that the 
Fort Hall people derived the ceremony from their kinsmen in Wyoming, 
indicates a relatively recent introduction of the dance among the Shoshone 
groups practising it. That the Wind River Shoshone have adopted cere- 
monial features from the Arapaho appears from a description of a "Sho- 
shone buffalo-dance." ^ The dancers congregate in a tipi. A middle-aged 
and a very young woman are brought to the center of the circle, where an 
old attendant removes their clothing, replacing it with a sage-brush apron. 
The girl is covered with white day and decorated with black spots. She is 
handed a staff, stretches out her arm, and plants the stick firmly in the 
ground. All the dancers pass a given number of times under her arm, then 
rush at her with a yell, raise her on their shoulders and carry her around, 
the by-standers touching her with their hands and coup-sticks for good 
medicine. She is returned to her place in the circle. Then a number of 

1 Report 1890, 386-7. 

2 Yarrow, 153-4. Report 1890, 387. Cf. Enga-gwacu's personal narrative, p. 301. 

3 Culin, (a) 14. 

* Report 1890, 634. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 217 

women impersonating buffaloes run off into the bush, pursued by the men, 
who capture and bring them back. Some of the features, at least, of this 
ceremony may have been adopted from the women's dance of the Arapaho.^ 
It is probable that other cultural elements were similarly borrowed, and 
this conjecture would account for the somewhat greater complexity encoun- 
tered among the Wyoming Shoshone, as compared with those here espe- 
cially dealt with. 

Of the dances formerly in vogue at Lemhi, the nu'akin or ta-nu'in, 
seems to have been the most important. Some informants identified it 
with the na'dzangai, or na'dzangEn; but others denied any connection 
between the two, and insisted that the latter was a squaw-dance recently 
derived from the Nez Perce, though some similarity in the step was admitted. 
The nii'akin was celebrated for several days, either towards the end of 
winter or in the beginning of spring. Its object was to ensure a plentiful 
supply of food, especially of salmon and berries. A camp-circle was formed, 
but no special lodge was erected. The main circle of dancers consisted 
of men and women, the normal arrangement being that each participant 
stood between members of the opposite sex. A woman might, however, 
refuse to stand between two men if she disliked them. Neighbors joined 
hands, interlocking fingers, a custom called ma'wekwagin. Boys and 
girls formed concentric circles, the former dancing in front of, the latter 
behind the main ring. The women wore elk-tooth dresses or their modern 
equivalents, put red paint on their face, and dyed their hair yellow. Ac- 
cording to some, the women rarely daubed their hair, the face was painted 
yellow, and red paint was spread in oblique lines from the eyes downwards. 
The men used bi'cap on their face, white clay on their forehead and hair. 
An eagle, or at times a magpie feather, was inserted in the hair. No drum 
was used during the performance. The dancers themselves sang, gliding 
with clockwise movements similar to those of the Cree dance, but much 
more slowly. As soon as the singing ceased, the women stepped out of the 
circle, resuming places when a new song was begun. So far as could be 
learned, there Avas no dift'erence between the several (according to some 
two, according to others five) days' performance, which was concluded with 
a feast. jNIr. Faukner, a young half-breed from Ft. Hall, remembers a 
dance, called grass-dance, which seems to correspond to the nu'akin, 
though he has forgotten the native designation. An immense circle was 
formed by men and women, neighbors interlocking fingers. The dance 
continued for several days and nights; the object of the dance was to make 
the grass grow. 

1 Kioeber, (b) 210 et seq. 



21S AnlhroiHjlogical Papers American ^[useu^» of Xatural Hisiorii. [Vol. II, 

The followiiiij vorv importVctly translaioel nu'akiii song was secured: 
Ma'zamlna un-du'a. 
Mouiitaiii-shoop her son. 

wa'sipi un-ilu'a-tsi, 

mountain-sheep's son. 

dii'mhi ma-to'owEn. 

on the roek goes out. 

E'nga-ni-ho pa go'nait 
A red ball cloud 
wii'kuni-bai yo'ina. 

\Yind has (?) 
pad5'nobina. 
go outside. 
(At this point of the song several of the singers knelt down on the ground.) 
Bl'a-gwTna unibi'oi un-du'atsi pa'wucoroto gin. 

Eagle white ( ?) her son ? 

Ta'ham bl'agwi na bi'oi du'atsi. 
Our white- eagle's son. 

A very vague, general resemblance might be noticed between the style 
of this song and that of some recorded ghost-dance songs. Together with 
the informant's statement that some Shoshone called the nu'akin dzd'a- 
no gakin. ghost-dance, the slow movement, the characteristic position of the 
women, and the clasping of hands,' it might be taken as evidence of a recent 
development of the dance. But Mooney's statement, that the Shoshone 
ghost-dance was merely a revival of an older dance practised fifty yeai*s ago, 
is supportetl by the testimony of Lemhi informants, re-enforced both by the 
mention of the nu'akin in mythology and the explanation of its object. 
There can thus be little doubt as to its antiquity. 

While the nu'akin was celebrated to insure the coming of the fish, the 
first catch of salmon (til'ma-a'gai) was also attended by some celebration. 
All the members of the band painted with bi'cap, and a feast took place, 
the first catch being divided among all the tribesmen. This custom is re- 
ferretl to by Remy in his description of Brenchley's journey along the Snake 
River in 1850. "At the commencement of their fishmg season the Indians 
perform a sort of superstitious ceremony, which consists in making certain 
prayei"s or signs over one of the fish before they venture to eat any. They 
believe that a violation of this law will bring ill-luck to the fishers, and any 
one of them disobeying it would run the risk of losing his life, even if he were 
famislnng." - 



' Mooney, ta> S09, 920. 
2 Uemy, II. oOS. 



]<)()<). 



Lowic, Tlie Northern Slioshone. 



210 



'Vhv ri'|)(")-iit)'k;ikin ( I^illici-'s (liiiice) was (Imiccd likr (lie mi'akin, Kill 
with dillVront songs, which wi-re usually without words, but partly in I he 
nature of a i)raycr. No information w^as {jjiven beyond the staleinc^nt that 
it was usually performed by old men and had originally bel()iig(>d to (he 
Bannoek. Another old dance was the dfi'mu-no'kakin, in which men and 
women participated, moving contra-clockwise in a circl(> and bending down 
low at regular intervals. 

Somewhat fuller information is available as (o I he wo'hti-nokakin, of 
which the name is derived from a musical instrmnent called wci'Iuinog 
(Fig. 20). This consists of a notched w^oodcn board, held up in a slant lug 
direction and resting on a parfk>che or piece of tin, and a second stick, or 
bundle of twigs, w^hich was rapidly drawn down the scale of notclies. A 
somewhat similar instrnnicnl was found by Alexander Henry among ihc 
Assiniboine, and is used by the Hoof-Ratde society of lh(> ('hcyenne; ' i( 
is also found among the Ilopi, Toidcaway, and Mexican tribes.'- There were 



-3 




Fit;. 'JO (50-6410). Musical Iii.striiiiiciit. Ivcngth, 5:5 cm. 



four musicians. The men and women were ranged on diH'erent sides of 
the dance-ground. Both wen^ allowed to invite members of the other sex 
to become their partners. If a man refused a W'oman's invitation, the 
belief w^as that he would be killed by a bear the next time he went out hunling. 
There were usually from four to six couples dancing at a time. All the 
spectators sang a song without words. Partners faced each other. The 
man's right hand grasped the woman's right arm, or he migiit simply j)lace 
his hand on her waist or shoulder. lb; ran rapidly backwards with his 
partner, then both ran to their initial ])<)sitioii. Usually the dance took 
j)lace on spring evenings. At liCmhi the wo'luini) kakin has not been 
practised for twenty years; but Mr. J. P. Sherman of (Jwyliee, Nevada, 
who kindly obtained some additional notes, re])orts that on the Duck River 
Res(>rva(ion the last performance dates back as late as 190.5. The mis- 
fortune incurred bv refusal to dance with a woman was not rcslriclcd bv 



I Ilonry, 296. G. A. Ooisi-y, f.li 18. 
-• Jlawley, 344. 



220 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [\o\. II, 

his informant to injuries from wild beasts; the guilty individual might be 
drowned, killed by a windfall, etc. Within recent times an open box was 
substituted for the rasping-stick. 'Sir. Sherman's authority regards the 
dance as old, but as having been originally introduced by the Ute. The 
Museum contains a specimen of a Ute notched instrument, collected by 
Kroeber, and Culin found it in use at a Uinta bear-dance performed in the 
spring.^ The bear-dances of the Ute, however, are described as purely 
social entertainments by Clark,' while the liomologue of the wo'hono'kakin 
was an annual religious ceremony performed in February or March. The 
dance-ground was bounded by a large circular enclosure, and near one end 
the musicians sat down with their rasps. "The men and the squaws 
arrange themselves into two lines, so that the sexes stand opposite and facing 
each other. When the music commences two squaws clasp hands, advance 
to the male line, and choose their partners; then two more in the same 
manner make their selection, and so on until all are supplied. Now the 
males and the females from their respective lines advance towards each 
other with a trot and a swaying motion of their bodies, until the couples are 
almost face to face, and then with similar backward movements return to 
the places from which they started. This alternate advance and retreat 
is all there is to the dance, but the participants apparently enjoy the exercise 
immensely, and often continue the dance until they are completely ex- 
hausted." 

The scalp-dance has already been referred to in connection with war 
customs. 

The dances heretofore mentioned were not witnessed by the writer. 
W' hen visited, the Lemhi Shoshone only practised two dances, the ta'cayuge, 
or war-dance, and the a'nonokakin, or Cree dance (a'na = horn, a'angant 
= Cree), also called kwapakin, or hugging-dance. Usually both were 
performed during the same night, the songs and correlated dances alternat- 
ing according to the wishes of the performers. The decision to hold a 
dance was made early during the day, and the news was rapidly carried all 
over the reservation. About sunset the drummers gathered on the dance- 
ground, suspended a large drum from four willow-sticks fixed in the ground, 
and began their music. It generally took about two hours, or longer, 
before all the people had arrived. During this waiting period, the drum- 
sticks were plied with short intermissions of rest, and appropriate songs 
were sung. On one occasion the wupa'rEk was revived before the com- 
mencement of the drumming. There was often great reluctance about 
starting the dance, and in such a case some of the drummers, or some of 
the older people present, exhorted the men and women to begin. 



1 Culin, (a) 95. 

2 Clark. 389. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 221 

The customary site of the dance was a large, unroofed barn, in the center 
of which a fire was maintained. At other times, the dancing took place in 
the open air around a pile of dry wood. For a public feast, followed by a 
dance in the evening, a circular enclosure of willow-trees opening towards 
the east was erected. A similar structure with a forked Cottonwood in the 
center was put up for an afternoon dance, ostensibly in honor of the chief, 
who had recently returned from a visit, and of some Cree. It was only on 
the last occasion that the older war-dance seemed to predominate over the 
recently acquired Cree dance. 

The Cree dance (a'no), which is practically identical with the owl-dance 
of the Crow, was introduced both at Lemhi and Fort Hall by the Cree some 
eight years ago, and rapidly became very popular. After the Cree song has 
been sung several times, a woman rises, approaches one of the men Avho are 
seated on the other side, or possibly one of the drummers, and tries to pull 
him up. The man summoned is frequently reluctant, yielding only after 
repeated pulls. At last, he steps forward, stands next to his partner, places 
his right arm around her waist, or his hand on her shoulder, and both begin 
to glide around the central fire-place in a clockwise direction. In position, 
the feet may form an angle, but are as frequently parallel. They are hardly 
raised from the ground, and the legs are bent but slightly, if at all. Other 
couples follow, and with young boys dancing by themselves the circle is 
soon closed. At intervals some of the dancers give vent to l)rief exclamations. 
As soon as the singing ceases, the circle is broken, the men release their 
companions, and receive in payment a small coin varying from five cents to a 
quarter. At the very next dance, however, it is the man's duty to invite 
his former associate and ultimately return to her twice the original amount, 
the established sums being a dime for a nickel, two-bits for a dime, and 
half-a-dollar for a quarter. On exceptional occasions, such as visits from 
friendly tribes, more valuable gifts are exchanged, such as beaded necklaces 
and even horses. A number of times the same man was simultaneously 
approached by two women. He would embrace each with one arm, and 
received a twofold fee, repaid in the customary fashion. 

There was no special dress for the Cree dance. Men and Women took 
part in their everyday costume, except in so far as the former were prepared 
for the ta'cayuge. The dancing continued through the night, those tired 
out lying down on the margin of the dance-ground and resuming places 
when rested. As a rule, the purely social nature of the performance was 
emphasized by the wx^ll-nigh total absence of the older men. The chief 
expressed detestation for night-dances, asserting that in former times dances 
always took place before dark. This, however, is disj)rovcd by the testi- 
mony of early travelers.^ 

1 Lewis and Clark. II. 343, 347. 



222 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. II, 

The ta'cayuge was said to be an old dance. In former days the per- 
formers remained rooted to the same spot, merely dancing up and down. 
One man carried a bow and arrow in his hand. There was no costume 
beyond a breechclout. Scars from wounds received in war were painted 
conspicuously. The dancers seen, almost exclusively young men, would 
rise from their seats at the beginning of the song, mark time in their places, 
then leap forward into the center, several at a time, and advance alternately 
one foot before the other with violent movements of the legs and body. 
Sometimes two dancers would gradually approach each other face to face, 
sometimes they danced abreast, keeping step. The ta'cayuge thus re- 
sembles both the Omaha dance of the Prairie '^''ribes,^ the hot-dance of the 
Crow, the prairie-chicken dance of the Stoney Assiniboine, and the Black- 
foot ka'espai pa'skan. The actual dance is very brief, probably owing to 
the physical exertion involved. 

There were no definite rules as to the costumes to be used. The per- 
formers freely borrowed what paraphernalia they could, and consequently 
there was considerable variety in their appearance. Some wore wigs, 
others porcupine head-dresses. At times eagle-feather fans with little bells 
attached were borne in the hand. On one occasion a rattle and an eagle- 
bone whistle derived from the sun-dance regalia of a Fort Hall Shoshone 
were suspended from a war-dancer's belt, with no idea of their originally 
ceremonial significance. The costume of one well-dressed dancer consisted 
of beaded moccasins; leggings with unfringed flaps and adorned with long 
strips of beadwork; a cloth breechclout decorated with a zigzag design, 
and partly covered by a linen shirt; an open vest with embroidered floral 
designs on the back, of which the sun-flower could be easily identified; and 
a porcupine head-dress from which rose two tall eagle-feathers. Leg-bands 
wdth bells were attached below the knees. The chief's favorite son wore 
the typical Prairie boiuiet without a tail, a buckskin cap with tall feathers 
tipped with reddish-yellow horsehair from six to eight inches long. On the 
sides of the headgear, there were small mirrors; in the back, there were 
numerous little bells; the front was beaded. Below the red cloth wrappings 
of the quills were little strips of weaselskin, gaily colored ribbons were sus- 
pended in the back. Besides a black shirt and a cloth breechclout, there 
were beaded armlets, leg-bands below the knee, and anklets with bells. 
Another dancer wore richly beaded moccasins and otter skin anklets, a 
loincloth confined by a beaded girdle, a red shirt with sleeve-holders and a 
porcupine head-dress. To the belt were attached an eagle-bone wrapj^ed 
with strips of otter skin and a wooden staff wrapped with blue cloth and 



1 Mooney, (a) plate CXIX. 



1909.] Loicie, The Xorthern Shoshone. 223 

crudely carved at one extremity into a bird's head, similar to a jSIuseum 
specimen from Wind River; while the other terminated in a buckskin ball 
filled with little pebbles and occasionally employed as a rattle. Some 
dancers had necklaces composed of little bone discs strung on parallel 
thongs. 

Similar irregularity was observed in the application of paint. The 
chief's son first painted his face yellow (o'hapit), then daubed his forehead 
with red paint; finally the portion of his face below the mouth was given a 
dark-brown paint, leaving only the space between the eyes and upper lip 
stained Avith the original o'hapit. This space was further restricted by a 
pair of blue stripes extending from the extreme point of each eye outwards 
to the ears, but passing below them. Between each pair of these sym- 
metrically disposed blue stripes, red paint was applied. Both sides of the 
hair were daubed yellow, and the frontal braids, as well as the hair in the 
back, were irregularly painted in the same fashion. The thighs were at 
first completely covered with yellow paint, later some blue dots were added. 
From the knee downward the legs were stained dark-blue. Other dancers 
used white clay (a'bi) on the forehead and upper part of the face. One 
performer painted his face red, with three slanting rows of yellow patches 
on one side and three symmetrically disposed yellow lines on the other. 
The legs were yellow, the thighs had in addition three rows of blue circles. 
Another dancer painted his legs red, and added several rows of circular 
yellow patches. All informants positively stated that the selection of both 
paint and costume was a matter of purely individual choice. Jack Tendoy 
used white clay in four or five patches vnider the eyes on either cheek. 

As already stated, Mr. St. Clair discovered considerably greater com- 
plexity in the body-painting of the AYind River Shoshone. Some wolf- 
dancers had realistic representations of a bear or snake below their breasts, 
standing for bear or snake-medicine; a sun-dancer had a similar painting 
of a buffalo. Right angles, or angular horseshoes, represent horse tracks; 
wav}' lines extending along the entire length of the arms and legs symbolize 
the rainbow; short lines, horizontal, curved, oblique or vertical, indicate 
people killed; and painted hands record hand-to-hand encounters with the 
enemy. 

RELIGION. 

As in the Plains, the basis of religious feeling seems to be the desire to 
secure power by the aid of dreams, visions and tutelary helpers. A man in 
quest of supernatural power would sometimes go up into the mountains at 
night. Suddenly he sees a light, which represents the expected medicine. 



224 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. II, 

He goes to sleep. The next morning he rises, and begins to look for roots. 
After having found them, he addresses the Sun, saying, "Look, I take this 
for my medicine." Then he brings them home, ties them up in a buckskin 
bag, and carries them about his body. In the night, his medicine speaks 
to him and counsels him. It may tell him ho\v he ought to paint. The 
next day he will act in accordance with its directions. Sometimes, if a 
man wishes to kill an enemy, he will speak to his medicine, attach it to a 
little stone, and throw it at the victim with disastrous results. Long ago a 
man married a woman, whom he came to dislike. He spoke to his medicine, 
and threw it at her. She died the next spring. An individual helper of 
this kind is called hu'ha, while medicinal herbs, charms, etc., are distin- 
guished as na'dcu. However, the weaselskins and eagle feathers worn in 
the hair were referred to as bu'ha, perhaps on account of the manner in 
which they Avere secured; some Shoshone regarded them as a protection 
from missiles. Some men obtained bu'ha for war only,^ while the medi- 
cine-man (bu'ha-gant = bu'ha-possessor) received help from his bu'ha as 
to the nature and cure of his patient's sickness. The AVind River peoj)le 
seem to look upon many birds as possessors and bestowers of bu'ha. The 
tail-feathers of the flicker, worn as a headgear, ward off sickness and tend 
to restore health; and a certain male of a species of sage-hen is explicitly 
stated to impart the gifts of a healer, seer and exorcist. This bird was 
offended some time ago because a Shoshone shot at it; hence the relative 
weakness of the bu'ha of modern, as compared with ancient, medicine-men ? 
If a man disobeyed the orders of his bu'ha, it would leave him forever. 
Some twenty years ago, Enga-gwacu Jim, who had a war-bu'ha, disregarded 
his helper's instructions as to the eating of salmon. He fell sick, his bu'ha 
no longer aided him, and he died. Though afterwards restored to life, he 
never recovered his bu'ha. ^ There are individual relations of a similar 
character which are not explicitly connected with a bu'ha. Thus, KS'bitsak 
is not afraid of rattlesnakes, because he has dreamt that he put rattlesnakes 
all over his body without being injured by them. He, accordingly, regards 
them as his friends. He knew an old Indian who would even venture, for 
the same reason, to put a rattlesnake into his mouth. Some medicine-men 
could never be hurt by obsidian arrow-points. The arrow would just 
graze them and pass off harmlessly; "perhaps it knew them." In con- 
cluding the tale of a woman who had illicit intercourse with a stallion, the 



* Bonneville's Bannock chief, who had a charmed life and could not be hit by a bullet, 
probably belonged to this category. He was ultimately killed by the Blackfoot; but his people 
declared it was not a bullet, but a piece of horn shot into him that caused his death. Irving, 
(a) 147. 

2 Culin, (a) 20. 

3 Cf. p. 301. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 225 

narrator stated that slie had dreamt horses were her friends and that she 
herself was like a horse. 

Dreams also give knowledge of past and future events, and bestow 
ability of a special character. A medicine-man once dreamt that an agent 
had killed an Indian school-child, and the Shoshone are firmly convinced 
that this is true. A Fort Hall Indian dreamt that he would be able to 
restore performers of the Sun-Dance, when falling down in exhaustion 
from thirst, by squirting water from his throat at their bodies. He tried 
the experiment, and succeeded. After Enga-gwacu had offended his bu'ha, 
the Sun appeared to him, ostensibly in a dream, and told him to build a 
wikiup all by himself, that he was going to die, but that he would be allowed 
to return to life, if he so desired. This was just what actually took place 
afterwards. 

From what information could be secured, it seems that to speak of 
Shoshone shamanism would be misleading. Though additional evidence 
may refute the statement, it does not appear that Shoshone medicine-men 
are distinguished from ordinary men by the common possession of a special 
type of supernatural relationship. As a chief acquires his war-medicine, 
so the medicine-man obtains the power to treat, say rattlesnake bites, which 
is specifically different from, but derived in fundamentally the same way as, 
another medicine-man's ability to cure barrenness, or as KS'bitsak's im- 
munity from snake-bites.^ The following particulars are given by Culin 
on the authority of a missionary. A medicine-man, in seeking supernatural 
aid, went to the mountains to fast and pray. At the end of some days an 
eagle, a bear, and a badger appeared to him. The eagle took off one of his 
talons and gave it to him, telling him that by means of it he would be able 
to command all the powers of the air. The bear similarly took off one of 
his claws and promised him aid from all the powers of the earth. Finally, 
the badger gave him a claw and told him by means of it he could command 
all that was under the earth. The medicine-man, by way of testimony, 
produced the three claws, strung on a cord to be worn about his neck. 

In Shoshone mythology there is mention of miracle (dii'mabana)-workers 
(page 256). The term "dii'mabana," though undoubtedly correctly trans- 
lated in the context of the m}i:h referred to, has a somewhat uncertain 
significance. It is used for the tightrope walking of an itinerant vaudeville 
performer seen in Salmon City; but also for a beaded charm with which 
Coyote overcomes the rolling rock, and the game of cat's-cradle is called 
dii'mabana-working. The Shoshone nowadays are skeptical as to the 

1 This statement is in agreement with observations made by Dr. Dixon in a recent paper 
on "Some Aspects of the American Shaman" (Journal of American Folk- Lore, 1908, Volume 
XXI, page 12). 



226 Anthropological Papers American Mvsevm of A'atvral History. [Vol. II, 

existence of Indian miracle-workers. Until recently some Bannocks claimed 
wonder-working powers; but the defeat of their people in the last uprising 
has destroyed confidence in their ability. In what way the power to per- 
form miracles was supposed to be derived, and whether it was understood 
to differ from that of a bu'ha-gant in the wider sense of the term, could not 
be determined. 

The Soul. The principle of life which departs at death is called mu'gua. 
During life its seat is in the head. According to one (unconfirmed) state- 
ment, the mu'gua of persons dying by violence travels in a different direc- 
tion from that traveled by the souls of people who have died a natural death. 
The latter go to the land of Wolf and Coyote. The common belief seems 
to be that the mu'gua of a dead Indian rises immediately until it reaches 
Wolf's house. There it is washed and revived by Wolf. The spirits of 
Indians are darker than those of white men and very small. While rising, 
they look like clouds. At first they are visible only to medicine-men; but, 
after being washed, any one can see them. Half-way up they are met by 
a spirit descending on horseback, who then escorts them to their proper 
place. The mu'gua then becomes a dzo'ap, ghost. White men probably go 
to a different country. Individual experiences, of course, may lead to heter- 
odox views. When Enga-gwacu Jim died, his mu'gua came out of his 
thigh, made one step forward, then halted and looked back at the body, 
which was still breathing. After three steps had been taken, the mu'gua 
looked back again, and found the body cold and stiff. The mu'gua was 
about ten inches in height. Suddenly something descended, passing clean 
through it. Then the soul did not ascend, but Avent underground until it 
got to a place, where one of A'po's (the Father's) helpers was making the 
dead men over again. Enga-gwacu thought of A'po, but could not see 
him. At length he heard him saying, "You don't look very sick." There 
was a kind of thin wire there, which A'po hit three times. Thus, Jim came 
to see the Father's hand, which is small and as clean as a baby's. A'po 
had a buckskin bag, out of the contents of which he could fashion whatever 
he pleased. At last, A'po became visible for a short time; he looked like 
a handsome Indian. Suddenly ever}i:hing oj^ened up, so that Jim could 
see the earth plainly, with his own body lying dead on the ground. How 
he ever got back, he does not know; suddenly he had returned to the earth 
and was alive. On another occasion, he went up to the clouds. There he 
found another world, filled with sage-brush. The Indians there were 
all skeletons; he was able to recognize some of his former friends among 
them. Jim has cjucstioned Shoshone medicine-men concerning a hereafter; 
but mistrusts both their statements and those of the missionaries, because they 
fail to tally with his personal experiences. 



1909.] Loivie, The Northern Shoshone. 227 

Some Shoshone are said to beHeve that one of Tendoy's sons changed 
into a silver-fox after his death; consequently they abstain from hunting 
these foxes, though their furs are very valuable. 

Ghosts. Ghosts are greatly dreaded. School-childi-en can be thrown 
into hysterics by the cry of "Dzo'ap!" and adults avoid passing their old 
cemetery on the Lemhi River at night. Meetings with ghosts are relatively 
frequent. They are sometimes heard making a noise outside of the lodge. 
Jack Grouse once heard singing, and managed to catch sight of some female 
ghosts. His nephew once went out hunting. He suddenly saw a skeleton 
figure. Speechless with fright, he ran home. The next spring, his father 
died. All the Indians believed that it was his father's wraith that he had 
seen. Another Shoshone once met a ghost, which tried to push him over 
from behind. The man resisted, tried to grasp the skeleton, and got his 
fingers between the bare ribs. After this adventure, he became very strong, 
so that he could lift a horse — "Perhaps some of the ghost got into him." 
Enga-gwacu, who has had a number of peculiar experiences of this sort, 
was once traveling at night, when he saw an Indian approaching him. The 
outlines of the body and head were plain, but the face was invisible; the 
stranger seemed to wear a striped vest. As he got nearer, Jim saw that he 
had mistaken the ribs of a skeleton for stripes. He ran away, but was headed 
oft". At last he said to the apparition, "You are only a ghost, let me alone." 
(O'no-n dzo'ap, no-vli'ak.) The figure turned about, and disappeared into 
the ground. On a similar occasion, Jim used the same formula with like 
success against an uncanny snake. 

Medicine. For ordinary cases of sickness, there are a number of medici- 
nal roots and herbs. A decoction of sagebrush leaves is prepared against 
colds and minor distempers. This forms, according to some white settlers, 
a very satisfactory remedy. A sweet-smelling plant, called ba'gwina, is 
similarly employed. In almost every dwelling visited, I found a spray of a 
species of spruce, called dza'-wongobi (good-pine). Other species were 
declared to possess no medicinal virtue. The needles were ignited and the 
smoke was inhaled; or, they were boiled, and the tea was drunk. Spruce- 
bark was treated in the same way for colds and headaches. Large braids of 
sweet-grass were commonly suspended from the wall; they are said to be 
similarly boiled and drunk for a colic. Some Shoshone keep old buffalo 
horns, which are employed as bu'i-na'dcu, eye-medicine. Small particles 
are broken off, boiled with spruce-needles, and the cooled mixture is rubbed 
over the sore eye. Bourke states that the Shoshone knew how to splint a 
fracture with willow twigs.' At Fort Hall, poultices made from pulverized 



» Bourke, 319. 



228 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. II, 

roots or leaves of diflferent weeds or herbs are sometimes applied to wounds 
or swellings.^ According to Fremont, the Convollaria stellata furnished 
"the best remedial plant" in the treatment of wounds.- 

When the ordinary remedies fail to act, the sick person decides on calling 
a medicine-man. This resolution usually follows a dream to that effect. 
The theory of disease, at all events in most cases, is that a dzo'ap, ghost, 
has entered the patient's body. The Ute had a superstition that whistling 
at night results in the entrance of a pygmy spirit, called un"'pits, into the 
whistler's body, causing illness.^ The treatment of the medicine-man is 
therefore designed to e.xtract the intruder and render him innocuous. At the 
time of my stay there were three practitioners, two men and one woman. 
The latter was not a specialist for female ailments, but was said by white 
informants to practise hypnotism. Some years ago, I was told, the black- 
smith of the Reservation had derided her power, and on a challenge, she had 
almost succeeded in putting him to sleep. The testimony on this subject 
proved contradictory; some Shoshone confirmed, others strongly denied, 
the statement that their physicians could perform movements inducing sleep. 
Of the other two doctors, one was said to cure rattlesnake bites; the other, 
Tu'mo-dzo, a hunchback, was a specialist for sexual troubles. It was said 
that the latter carried his medicine about in his hump. He had a re[)utation 
for obscenity, and, in conversation, gave a ribald turn to innocent questions. 
Among other things, he cured barrenness. His nephew was married for 
ten years without having any children. At last he summoned his uncle to 
examine his wife, who has since borne two children. This result was, of 
course, attributed to the medicine-man's skill. Tu'modzo's treatment of 
gonorrhea (dii'mbehaip), according to various Indians, consisted of insert- 
ing the diseased member in his mouth and sucking it; he would then expecto- 
rate. Women were similarly treated by him. Dr. Murphy, by way of 
corroboration, told me that when he was first appointed as agency physician 
the Indians visited him, and inquired as to his method of dealing with vene- 
real disease. In reply to his explanations, they said they had no faith in 
his treatment, as he seemed to be afraid to employ suction like their own 
practitioner. Tu'modzo was about seventy-five years of age, and had be- 
come nearly blind. He claimed to have been exceptionally strong in his 
youth, and to have overcome a bear in wrestling with him. Within recent 
years, confidence in his power seems to have been waning. 

As to the method usually employed by medicine-men, very little definite 
information could be got. Of course, incantations and sweat-lodges Avere 

» Report 1890, 236. 
2 Fremont, 273. 
s Powell, (a) 29. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 229 

in common use. To extract the dzo'ap, the doctor forms a tube of his 
hands, apphes it to the patient's mouth, and begins to suck until the sick 
individual retches, and finally belches forth the evil spirit. This is seized 
by the physician, shown to the spectators, sometimes in the shape of blood 
or of some small object, rubbed between his palms, and thus killed. By 
the Ute doctor, the evil spirit is driven away by stretching the patient out 
on the ground and scarifying him with an eagle claw from head to heel, 
while a group of men* sing an incantation in chorus.^ The compensa- 
tion varied; Jack Grouse paid a doctor a dollar for curing his child; in 
other instances, a horse was presented to the practitioner. As indicated 
above, there is no distinction of rank among doctors, but merely a differ- 
entiation of function. Medicine-men, besides aiding the sick, could some- 
times charm arrows for hunting, and, as shown by Lewis and Clark, could 
impart supernatural virtues to shields. None of them are said ever to 
have engaged in causing the sickness or death of a fellow tribesman. Some- 
times the sons or nephews of physicians followed the same profession. 

There are cases in which the medicine-man is powerless. Ko'bitsak's 
little girl died of cholera infantum. His explanation, according to Dr. 
Murphy, was that the child had been caught in a whirlwind, which whirled 
out her brains. After my departure from Lemhi, Tu'-dzomo-n-do'mi, the 
younger of the two medicine-men, was taken sick. He declined Dr. Mur- 
phy's services, saying that he knew he must die in three days, but if he 
took any white man's medicine he would die before that. He looked rather 
strong, but actually died on the third day. What the native theory of this 
case may have been, I do not know. In general, two reasons were given 
for failure to restore the sick. A dzo'ap may have entered the patient's 
body, snatched away his mind, and flown away with it; under these cir- 
cumstances, madness usually ensues: or, the part of the ghost may be 
played by Coyote himself, who descends from above, carries off a man's 
mu'gua, and either makes him insane, or kills him outright. Jack Grouse 
knows of a farmer living in the vicinity, who used to abuse the Indians; he 
thinks that this malefactor was dispatched by Coyote about a year ago. 
In this role. Coyote disguises himself as an Indian, and can be recognized 
only by his eyes. 

Charms. Amulets of various kinds are in use. Spruce-needles are pow- 
dered, and crammed into a buckskin bag somewhat resembling an awl- 
case. The bag is hung around a baby's neck as a safeguard against illness. 
Adults use white weaselskins, or the foot of a white weasel, buffalo horns 
and manes for similar purposes, A very old woman keeps two small, 

1 Powell, (a) 29. 



230 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

irregular pieces of obsidian in a bag as a preventive of eye-disease; occa- 
sionally she scratches her arm with the stones. Some men have a charm 
enclosed in a little piece of cloth and tied to the middle of either the front or 
back of a beaded necklace. One man carried some spear-grass about in 
this way. A sacred stone, apparently a tribal medicine, by which good or 
evil could be wrought, is mentioned by Culin.^ An evil charm was prepared 
by placing rattlesnake heads on hot coals in a hole in the ground and covering 
them with the fresh liver and gall of wild animals. During the process of 
steaming, the liver absorbs the poison from the heads. It was carefully 
preserved in a little buckskin bag worn on the owner's body. By looking 
intently at the victim and murmuring evil incantations, it was possible to 
effect his death.- 

Love-charms are extremely popular. GwI'damba'bi wears a weasel 
foot on his hat as wai"-pe-na'dcu (woman-medicine); he expects that it 
will help him in "catching a squaw." Woman-medicine, in the shape of 
shavings of wood or bark, is rubbed on the neck, tied up in a bag or piece 
of cloth, and attached to the belt. Ko'bitsak was seen to take spruce- 
needles into his mouth, chew them thoroughly, spit the moistened substance 
on his hands, and rub it on his head for wai"-pe-na'dcu. He also knows 
a small inedible root, which is dug up for the same object. The root is 
glued to a little stone, the lover creeps u[) behind the woman desired, and 
throws the charm at her. Perhaps three or four nights later, she comes to 
see him. She looks into his eyes, and laughs. Jack has repeatedly used 
this charm with success. Some time ago, a Ross Fork Shoshone visited 
him and paid Ko-bitsak a dollar-and-a-half for these roots. The following 
spring, Jack saw him married to a woman. Though in lack of positive 
information on the point, he regards the wife as the woman originally sought, 
and ascribes the consummation of the marriage to his medicine. Lame- 
Jack, while confirming Jack's statements, speaks of another root also called 
wai'i-pe-na'dcu, but causing disastrous consequences. If dropped in a 
woman's path, it will kill her in about ten days. 



CONCEPTIONS OF THE UNIVERSE. 

The ideas of the Shoshone concerning celestial phenomena are rather 
simple and meagre. According to Powell, the domed firmament was be- 
lieved to be of ice, against which was coiled the back of a huge serpent, 
identified with the rainbow. In winter, the monster's friction with the ice 

» Culin, (a) 17. 

2 Keport 1890, 386. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 231 

caused snow to fall on the earth; while, in the summer, the snow melted 
and turned into rain.^ Thunder is explained either as the howling of Coyote, 
or, more commonly, as the noise made by a small mouse (pu'nai) rushing 
through the clouds. Its children play about recklessly, and thus produce 
lightning. Powell makes lightning the arrow of Ta-vwots, the Hare.^ 
While there is mention of a gigantic bird, Nii'neyunc, it does not seem to be 
connected with thunder. The Ute regard falling stars as the excrements 
of dirty little star-gods.^ A Lemhi told me of a spot near Red Rock, Mon- 
tana, where a shooting-star had gone down into the ground, making a large 
hole. Its splinters, looking like glass, used to lie around the hole, which 
is now closing up. The portion that disappeared did not descend very 
far, but might possibly be dug up. The Pleiades are the members of 
Coyote's family, who have deserted him on account of his insatiable lust. 

The sun was at one time very close to the earth, scorching the Indians, 
who dispatched the Hare to kill it. From the corpse a new sun was fash- 
ioned and raised to its present height. A very much more elaborate account 
is given by Powell, who apparently derived it both from Ute and Shoshone 
sources. The Sun used to roam about irregularly, now scorching people 
when too close, then again hiding in a cave until the earth was chilled. 
One day he singed the Hare's back. The Hare pursued him, and, by means 
of a magical weapon, shattered him into a thousand fragments, which 
produced a world-fire. All the Hare's body was consumed except the head, 
which bowled away. At last his eyes burst, and a flood of tears issuing forth 
quenched the conflagration. The conquered Sun was summoned before a 
"council of gods," which regulated the change of seasons and the alterna- 
tion of day and night.* 

A Lemhi version derived the moon from the gall of the sun; it was 
subsequently raised to the sky like the resuscitated sun. The man in the 
moon is recognized as a giant cannibal (Dzo'avits), holding a blanket with 
one hand. The Ute believe that Whippoorwill transformed a frog into the 
new moon by means of incantations.* As to eclipses, the only (ill-translated) 
statement apparently relating to them was that of an old doctor, who had 
seen the sun die twice in his life, while the Indians were shooting at it. 

1 Powell, (a) 27. 

2 Powell, (b) 7. 

3 Powell, (a) 27. 

* Powell, (a) 24, 52-6. 
s Powell, (a), 24-5. 



232 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

There is a belief that, if Coyote myths are told, the weather will become 
rainy or cold; there is also a prejudice against telling stories in the day- 
time.^ 

There is a proverbial expression connecting warts a\ ith the number of a 
man's wives. I had two small warts on my fingers, and every Shoshone 
who noticed them made the following comment: "You have two wives and 
no younger sister; this, perchance, is the older sister (pointing to one wart), 
and that the younger." (AVa'hat on-gv;u'aho, na'na na'mino; noha'gani 
i'cE umba'dzi, i'cE u-na'mi.) 

The Shoshone never ate dogs.^ They abstain from the meat of white 
mountain-sheep, skunks, or badgers. They do not eat magpies, crows and 
eagles, because they regard them as friends to whom they are indebted for 
the feathers of their head-dress. 

When the Shoshone desire rain, they kill a frog with a stone and lay it 
on its back. When they wish to prevent the rain from falling, they some- 
times address the clouds, asking them to depart. 

The wildcat used to lie down on a hot rock, that is why its back looks 
as though it had been burnt. 

W^hen the small[)ox was raging in Lemhi, a Cree advised Jack Grouse 
to hang up a skunkskin and also to drink a mixture of skunk-filth and Avater. 

The Indians are frightened if a man whistles through a grass blade, 
and call him crazy. 

Mosquitoes once were very large and ate up Indians until Coyote changed 
them to their present size. 

Howls of the coyote at the time of the full-moon presage good luck; 
when a child rejoices at the first thunder in the spring, it is an omen that it 
will live to an old age and enjoy distinction.^ 

A Snake chief, treated to horse flesh, by Wyeth's party, expressed great 
horror at the idea of eating a pony, and vomited the meat. Whether this 
was a tribal, or only an individual taboo, is not clear.* 

1 Cf. Dixon, (a) 266. 

2 De Smet. II. 680. 

3 Report 1890, 632. 
* Townsend. 252-3. 



1909.1 Loicie, The Xorthern Shoshone. 233 



II. MYTHOLOGY. 

Shoshone mythology is, on the whole, characterized by the absence of a 
systematic cosmogony and of a migration legend. The Washakie Snakes 
are said to have had a tradition that they came originally from the south.^ 
The Lemhi, like Powell's Shoshone,- declare that they originated in the 
locality now occupied by them. The role of the creator is sometimes as- 
signed to a character referred to as A'po, the Father, or No'mono A'po, 
the Indians' Father.^ He is contrasted with Wi'hindafbo, Iron-Man, the 
creator of the Whites, whom he conquers in a trial of strength. Some 
informants identify him with either Wolf or Coyote, the principal figures of 
Shoshone mythology. Clark states that, among the Bannock, the Gray 
Wolf was considered the creator of the Bannock, and Coyote creator of the 
Shoshone; while the Shoshone looked upon Wolf as their own father. 
The heroes' lair and their tracks in the rock, leading from a spring to the 
den, are still pointed out.'* Among the Lemhi, the creation of sun, moon, 
and animals for the benefit of man is occasionally (in conversation) credited 
to Vs'oU. Wolf is universally regarded as the older, benevolent brother. 
Nevertheless, the younger Coyote, who thwarts his designs, introducing 
strife, labor, and death into the world, is obviously the more im})ortant 
character; though the word for Coyote is commonly used for a liar or 
cheater, and a dyed-in-the-wool deceiver is called "very much of a Coyote." 
With the Ute ^ the elder of the Cin-au'-iio is the marplot, and the younger 
figures as the benefactor of mankind, who is ultimately obliged to flee to his 
father, the Hare. Among the Lemhi, the Hare does not appear as the 
heroes' father, and plays only a subordinate part. Coyote is the culture- 
hero par excellence; he figures as the leader in the theft of fire, and such 
inventions as the flaking of obsidian are attributed to him. At the sight 
of an obsidian arrow-point, which I showed to a number of Indians, each 
one immediately exclaimed, "i'dzapo an-du'p'" (Coyote's obsidian). There 
is a long myth of the procreation of all the Indians by Coyote ; the Shoshone 
become his special proteges because they alone were washed by him as 
newborn babes. The majority of the Lemhi are still said never to kill a 



1 Culin, (a) 21. 

2 Powell, (c) 86. 

3 Tliis cliararter is mentioned bj' the Wind River people, as Mr. St. Clair has informed me. 
^ Clark, 60, 337. 

* Powell, (a) 44-5. Powell does not state that this is a Ute myth. Cin-au'-ao, however, 
is the Ute word for wolf; vid. Kroeber, (d) SI, 96. The Slioshone terms for wolf and coyote 
are ic and i'zdapo. Clark's Shinnob (explicitly Ute) is obviously the same as Powell's Cin- 
au'-ao; Clark, 388. 



234 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. II, 

coyote, though one man was pointed out as having done so. Chirk was 
skeptical as to the strict observance of the taboo at his time, but at Fort 
HaU it seems to persist.^ There is a strong belief in Coyote's immortality; 
no sooner is he killed than he rises again. Whether this belief is generally 
extended to embrace all members of the species, is doubtful; but one Sho- 
shone, in conversation with me, scoffed at the idea that a white man could 
ever permanently deprive a coyote of life. In the less important tales, 
partly shared with neighboring tribes. Coyote presents all the features of 
the t\^3ical trickster. As a greedy, unscrupulous erotomaniac, he usually 
attains his ends; but occasionally suffers defeat or humiliation at the hands 
of a superior antagonist. 

Besides the important elements of the Coyote cycle, there seems to be 
another group of autochthonous stories; those dealing with the Dzo'avits. 
These constitute a race of gigantic ogres dwelling in stone houses. When a 
Dz5'avits slept, a Shoshone would sometimes creep up and shoot an arrow 
at his arms; but the arrow, instead of disturbing him, would break in two. 
Individual members of this people are overcome by the Weasel brothers, 
or, less frequently, by other Indians. The destruction of the whole tribe 
is ascribed to the conflagration caused by a number of birds, or to the magic 
of Weasel-woman's uncle. AVith Powell, Dzo'avits is a witch ultimately 
transformed into the echo.- Pa'-n-dzo'avits is a giant with enormous 
hands and feet, who lives in the water. He sleeps on rocks in the water, 
holding his hands before his face. When Indians approach, he imme- 
diately dives below the surface, as he greatly fears them. In a m>ih, however, 
he is represented as rising from the water to climb up a tree after the twin 
heroes, until the benevolent Pabrhiano O^ater-youths) throw him back 
again. 

Other supernatural water-beings are the water-buffalo (Pa'-gutc), which 
swallows one of the twins, but is shot by the other; and the Pa'ona, or 
water-baby, which Indians never catch sight of, but hear crying in the 
night. Besides the Dzo'avits cycle, there are stories of apparently anthropo- 
morphic cannibals (no'mori'ka = people-eaters), and, according to some 
Indians, their existence is still believed in. Nti'-niJmbi is the name of a 
little boy, about two feet in height, who runs about the mountains, shooting 
game wuth his bow and arrows; though small, he is stout and very strong. 
Among the Wind River people of Wyoming, this character seems to be of 
considerable importance. Culin, basing his statements on information 
given by the Rev. John Roberts, gives the following details. Nii'niimbi 
(Nin-nim-be) is a very short, old man, living in the mountains. He can 

» Culin. (a) 91. 
2 Powell, (a) 45. 



1909.] Loirie, The Northern Shoshone. 235 

appear and disappear at will. To meet him presages death. A trifling 
accident when starting on a journey will cause a Shoshone to turn back in 
dread of Nii'niimbi. His shooting is the cause of a horse's or cow's illness, 
and old stone darts picked up by the Indians are exhibited as his arrow- 
points. Every sudden death is attributed to his agency, and the average 
Shoshone is afraid of uttering his own name lest Nii'niimbi should overhear 
it and shoot him with his invisible arrows. Nii'numbi was regarded by 
Mr. Roberts' informant as the descendant of the no'morika, who are 
described as dwarfish mountaineers, who often fell a prey to eagles.^ The 
Lemhi people did not seem to connect Nu'niimbi with the no'morika, 
nor were these cannibals conceived as dwarfs by them. The Wind River 
Shoshone believe that the Widjege, a species of titmouse, discovered the 
world. Its tongue is said to be divided into six parts; one tongue is dropped 
every month, and at the end of the sixth the tongues are renewed. It is 
considered "bad medicine" to kill this bird.' 

The material available for comparison permits some conclusions as to 
the direction from which Shoshone mythology has been most strongly 
influenced. Some of the tales found among the Shoshone, such as that of 
the bungling host, of the rolling rock, the magic flight ^ or the eye-juggler,^ 
are shared by too many other tribes to allow a definite inference. On the 
other hand, the colorless account of the deluge, which lacks the familiar 
diving incident, recalls some Californian versions. In Mr. St. Clair's ver- 
sion, the chickadee is dispatched by A'po to bring land, but nothing is 
explicitly stated about diving for it. The occurrence of the tale of the theft 
of fire also allies Shoshone m}^hology with that of tribes Avest of the Rocky 
Mountains, though the Lemhi version is not exactly paralleled by any 
other form known to the writer. The Bear and Deer myth is very closely 
related to that of northern California, while some striking details are 
shared with the Klamath variant. The importance of Coyote indicates a 
general relationship with Plateau and Californian mythologies; while the 
antagonism of Wolf to Coyote, and the institution of labor, suffering and 
death by the latter, establish a closer connection with the Maidu. The 
liberation of salmon by the culture-hero, the counseling excrements, the 
contests of a party of travelers with the inhabitants of successively visited 
villages, the appearance of Coyote as a baby on a raft, are all additional 
features allying Shoshone folklore with that of the Columbia River and the 
Californian area. The very characteristic detail of a gigantic bird carrying 
off twin heroes, — who slay him, are counseled by his mother, and later 



1 Culin, (a) 17, 20 et seq. 

2 Ibid., 20. 

3 Not secured at Lemhi, but recorded b3' Mr. St. Clair at Wind River. 



236 Anthropological Papers American Museum of A'aiural History. [\'ol. II, 

encounter a mouthless jicople, for whom they cut mouths, — are, so far as I 
know, common only to the Shoshone and Yokuts; though the last of these 
incidents is found also among the Zuiii and Tillamook. 

The most important Prairie tale in the collection is that of Lodge-Boy 
and Thrown-Away. From a recent discussion,^ it appears that the Sho- 
shone form of the story tallies in important particulars with that of the 
Blackfoot, Gros Ventre, Arapaho and Hidatsa. Neglecting minor stories, 
the tales of buffalo stealing an Indian girl and of the poor boy shooting the 
fox in a competitive hunt are almost the only other distinctively Prairie 
stories in the collection. A version of the star-husband myth, somewhat 
similar to the Blackfoot variant, was obtained by Mr. St. Clair. There is 
a version of Coyote and his Daughter among the Gros Ventre and Arapaho; 
but also among the Ute, Maidu, and Navaho.' Coyote and Porcupine 
occurs in Wichita and Osage mythology; but is shared by the Jicarilla 
Apache, Zuni, Chilcotin, Ute and Maidu. Shoshone mythology lacks 
important buffalo tales, according to an old medicine-man, because "the 
buffalo was never an Indian." Both star-myths and stories of boy heroes 
are relatively insignificant. It is thus fairly clear that the mythology of the 
Shoshone indicates a closer connection with the people of California and the 
Great Basin, than with their eastern neighbors of the Plains. 



1. The Creation of the Shoshone. 

(a) 

Coyote was living there. He went down to the big sea. No Indians 
were living at that time. Coyote thought he might find some. He lay 
down, covered himself with a blanket of jack-rabbit skins, and commenced 
to sing and move his legs. While singing, he felt something touching his 
Coyote feels ^*igs. He looked up and saw nothing. He covered liim- 
giri dancing on self up again and continued singing. Again he felt some- 
his legs. thing dancing on the lower part of his body. He looked 

around and saw nothing. Coyote made a peep-hole in his blanket; then he 
saw a pretty girl dancing on his legs. He did not know what to do; when 
he threw off his blanket, she disappeared. 

The next time when he felt the touch of the girl, he jum[)ed up and 
pursued her. Near the shore of the sea, he caught up to her. He asked 

* Lowie, 141. 

2 This tale was also told to the writer by a half-breed Cree at Edinoiiton, Alberta. Natur- 
ally the Cree trickster, WisSketcak, takes the part of Coyote. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 237 

her what she was doing. She said hei' mother had sent her. "Where 

do vou Uve?" he asked. She pointed out an island far 

" . . Catches her; 

away ni the sea, and offered to take him to her home, carried on her 

Coyote agreed to go with her. She took him on her back, ^ack, dropped in 

and began to walk across the sea. In media via, Canis 

amore inflammatus muliere frui conatus est. She dropped him into the sea 

and walked on, thinking he was drowned; but Coyote crawled up, like a 

spider, and swam towards the island.' 

Coyote got to the island first, and saw two wikiups with the smoke rising, 
and between them sat an old woman. Coyote spoke to her. She asked 
him to come inside and sit down. He went in. After Reaches island 
a while the girl came in and talkecj to the old woman, entertained by 
who was her mother. She said, "I dropped Coyote in ^°"^®"- 
the water." Her mother said, "Keep still; he is in there now." When the 
girl peeped in, she saw Coyote sitting there. She cooked duck eggs for him 
and set them just in front of him, touching his feet. As soon as she touched 
his feet, he immediately drew them back. He ate only a few eggs. He 
was eager for the night to come. 

Coyote looked around and noticed quivers hanging all over the lodge. 
This frightened him; he went outside, eased himself, and asked his anus 
for advice. He asked why those quivers were hanging Anus warns 
there. He had also noticed that the women, while pre- against toothed 
tending to swallow the food, let it slide down to the "^^sit^^- 
abdominal region, where he heard the eggs crack. His anus said, "You 
fool; whenever the girl and her mother get hold of a man, they kill and 
eat him. Earum vagina dentibus insita. Quod edunt dentibus vaginalibus 
mordent.- Coire simula, sed aliquid aliud intrude. Take your elk horn 
scraper and break their teeth." 

In the evening, the old woman told the girl to lie down near Coyote. 

Before retiring, all three went outside. ]\Iinxerunt. 

When they came in, the old woman fastened the door ^„ ^*^„i'"'^^"* 
•^ ' toy women. 

with a rope so Coyote should not escape. Coyote was 
afraid. When he lay down, he wished the rats would come and gnaw up 
the rope. After a while, he heard the rats come and gnaw up the rope. 
Then he knew that he could run out if necessary, and raised the girl's 
blanket. Penem insertum esse simulavit, vere nihil inseruit. Rima clausa 
est, non eum vulneravit. Fugiens ad portam cucurrit. \'etula secuta; 
cuius quoque dentes non Canem, sed solam togam momorderunt. Canis 
effugiens dentium crepitum audiebat. 

1 Cf. the beginning of this mj'-th with Kroeber, (f) 97. 

2 The distribution of this motive is discussed by Lowie, 1 10. 



238 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. II, 

Coyote escaped. He jumped into the sea and swam across, splashing 
in the water. He had a hard time of it; but got out in the place where he 
Returns with ^^''*^ ^^^^ ^'^^^^ down to rest. He had left his tools there, 
tools, served by He went to sleep again. When he woke up he put on 
women. |)aiiit, went to the shore, and killed a duck. Coyote re- 

turned to where the old woman was sitting, and threw the duck with some 
eggs over to her. The girl was not there; because she was on the water 
every day, looking for people to take home and kill. In the evening, she 
returned with some ducks. Coyote had entered the wikiup; but the old 
woman was still sitting outside. The girl told her mother she had not 
found Coyote anywhere. "Keep still," the old woman said, "he is in 
there." The girl looked in and saw Coyote, who looked handsome with 
his face painted. She fed him as before, setting duck eggs before him. 
When she touched his feet. Coyote quickly pulled them in. He only ate 
a few eggs, pushing the rest aside. The women ate in their usual way. 
Coyote could hear the egg-shells cracking in the vulva. 

In the evening, the old woman told her daughter to lie down beside 
Covote. The girl lav down. Coyote went outside to get 

0V6rC0I116S » o I •/ c* 

women with liis tools, which he had not taken into the wikiup. He lay 

scraper; is sent down and embraced the girl. Tunc in rimam claudentem 
lor water. / ,, , v • • r^ i 

cornu (elk horn scraper) mseruit. Umnes dentes cornu 

perrupit sustulitque. The girl cried out, "Something is wrong with my 

teeth." The old woman misunderstood what she said, and said to her, 

"Keep it there." Coyote now went over to the mother, and in the same 

way broke off all her teeth. Ad puellam rediit et cum ea assidue copulavit. 

Tunc demum cum matre coiit. Postridie mulieres se gravidas esse sen- 

serunt. They told Coyote to go outside and fetch water; but to get it from 

far away where they were in the habit of getting it. Coyote was afraid to 

go there, and fetched Avater from near-by instead. When he returned the 

old woman told him that he had not brought good water, and sent him out 

again. He went for it once more. 

As soon as Coyote was gone, the babies fell in great numbers out of the 

women's wombs. The women took the water brought in by Coyote and 

wasJuMl the babies. They made all the tribes of Indians 
Birth of Indi- ... i oi i i i i? i • 

ans; Shoshone m this way except the bhoshone, whom they lett lying on 

separated from one side. When Coyote came in, they said, "We have 
left these for you to wash." Coyote washed the Sho- 
shone babies and said to them; "You are my children. I am going to 
stay with you." If he had washed all the babies, there would have been 
nothing 'but Shoshone in the world; but the women washed the others. 
That is why the other tribes were always fighting the Shoshone. Coyote 
told his children to be brave and not be afraid of the other Indians. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shosfwne. 239 

(b) 

Coyote once came to an old woman and her daughter. He saw bows 
and arrows hanging in their lodge. The old woman warned him against 
the girl. She said her daughter was in the habit of killing and eating people 
who came there. Coyote considered what to do. In 
the evening the girl came in with ducks and their eggs. . rigin of Sho- 
Coyote went off. He found a kind of blue stone. Ex la- 
pide membrum virile finxit. He also plucked some thorns from a rose 
bush. Cum domum veniret vaginalium dentium crepitum audivit. He 
waited for the night to come. In the night Coyote lay down by the girl, 
Inserto membro quod fictum erat omnes dentes perrupit. Turn spinis 
vulvam vulneravit. Coyote married the girl and their children were the 
ancestors of the Shoshone. 



2. Wolf and Coyote. 

(a) 

In the beginning, Wolf wanted to make everything easy and pleasant 
for the Indians, Coyote tried to make them work hard as they must do 
to-day. Wolf had all the game shut up so that people 
could easily take what they wanted; Coyote released the 
game so that people had to go hunting. Wolf said, "The Indians shall not 
die." "Why should they not die?" asked Coyote, "they must die." An 
Indian was lying sick in his tent. The medicine-man was treating him, but 
he died. Coyote taught the Indians to cry and to cut their hair when any 
one died, and told them that the dead go to another world. 

Wolf said to Coyote, "Let there be no menstruation." Coyote thought 
it was proper that women should menstruate; so he took 
some blood and threw it at his daughter. She began st^"ti^n°* ^^^' 
to menstruate and went to a menstrual lodge. Lupus, 
"Homines oportet ex digito nasci sine coitu," inquit. Coyote disagreed. 
"Bonus est coitus, ex utero nasci oportet. ISIelli est coitus." To-day 
things are as Coyote wished them.^ 

(6) 
Wolf and his younger brother Coyote were living together. Every day 

1 Powell, (a), 44. 



240 Anthropological Papers AmericaJi Museum of Natural Histonj. \\o\. II, 

Wolf went to his aunt Bear for dinner. She prepared every kind of food 

Covote assaults ^^'^ him; when he came home, he used to tell Coyote 

Bear, is wounded of the good things he had eaten. Coyote said he would 

^ ®^' also visit his aunt in order to get something good to eat; 

but Wolf advised him not to go, because he was afraid Coyote would 

play some trick on their aunt. Coyote ])romised to behave Avell, but AVolf 

still kept on warning him. "When she sits down to cook," he said, "she 

always spreads her legs wide a})art. Conspectis pudendis muliebribus tu 

certe coitum concu})isces." Nevertheless Coyote went to the Bear's wikiup. 

When Bear began to cook, she spread out her legs. Consj)ectis pudendis 

Canis libidine accensus se continere non [)otuit. Prostrata muliere cum ea 

concumbere conatus est. Bear closed her arms about him and tore his 

loins. Coyote howled with pain. Bear got up and ran away. 

Wolf was waiting for Coyote to come home. When Coyote did not 

return, his brother went to look for him at Bear's wikiup. When he found 

out what had happened, he said, "Did n't 1 tell you to stay home?" He 

treated Coyote's wound, and cured him. Then he got 

° '/m,"« » into a passion, because Bear had hurt his brother. He 
venge, kills Bear. i ' 

went away and found his aunt gathering wild carrots. 
He killed her, went back and ordered Coyote to bring her home, but to 
leave all the inside of the Bear's body intact. Coyote skinned and butch- 
ered the Bear; but disobeyed his brother, cutting out the he'gwi (an uniden- 
tified part of the body). When he got home, Wolf noticed that something 
was missing and said, "You have cut out the most important part. Now 
Indians will often attack us. They will surround us while we sleep. 
You must look out for the hostile Indians." 

After some time had elapsed, Coyote beheld many Indians coming to 
surround their home, (^ovotc went out directlv in front 

Brothers at- ' . i • "i i i 

tacked by In- "i tliem. I hey shot at him again and again, i)ut could 

dians; Wolf onlv graze his skin and shoot off his hair. Thev failed to 

hurt liiin, though he was fighting all alone. In the mean- 
time, Wolf stayed indoors, dressing up and painting himself. When Coyote 
was exhausted, he went inside, and Wolf came out to fight. Coyote became 
jealous of his brother, because he was so handsoiuely dressed. He wished 
the enemy would kill Wolf. Immediately Wolf was shot and killed by the 
Indians. They scalped him and took away his dress. Coyote fled and the 
Indians went off. 

Coyote made many arrows; he tracked the enemy. When he came to 
his brother's body and saw the scalped head, he cried. 

coyote tracks ^^.j^^^^^ j^^ buried the body, and went in pursuit of the 
tne enemy. •' ' ^ 

Indians. He came to the site of a camp-fire, where they 

had celebrated the scalp-dance. There he looked at the scalp-pole, and 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 241 

left a quiver on a tree. He wandered on until he reached another camp- 
ing-ground with a scalp-pole. Here he also left a quiver with arrows. 
From time to time, he wept as he journeyed along. He came to another 
camp-site, which had been abandoned only a short time ago, and again left 
a quiver there. Then he asked his anus, "When did they leave this 
place?" The anus replied, "Two days ago." At last Coyote got to a 
camp which had been broken only one day ago. 

As he walked on, he saw an old Indian woman hobbling along.^ Coyote 
quickly walked aroiind so as to meet her from a different direction. In 
order to make himself irrecognizable, he put paint on both his cheeks. 
When the old woman saw him apj^roaching her, she 
stopped to sit down. Coyote sat down beside her. The Sounds old 

old woman asked him where he had come from. Here- and don's her skin, 
plied, "Don't you see my paint? I came from a distant 
land in the East. I don't know at all what is going on here. Tell me 
what the people are doing." She replied, "The Indians have killed Coy- 
ote's older brother. They have taken away his scalp, and perform the 
scalp-dance every night." Coyote said, "Go on, tell me some more news." 
The old woman told him that she always walked in the rear on account 
of her age. As she approached the new camp, some girls were in the habit 
of running towards her and supporting her the rest of the way. She always 
took care of the children, putting them to sleep every evening. Whenever 
the people gave her food, she would eat a portion and stow the remainder 
away under her knee. When the time for dancing arrived, all the girls 
were put to bed together. Coyote said, "Continue, tell me some more." 
"They take Wolf's skin and hang it on a pole." Coyote said, "Tell me 
some more, tell me everything about these Indians." She told him that in 
the night she herself went to the dance-ground. Then the other dancers 
handed her the wolf-skin, she put it about her neck and danced with it. 
"That is all I have to do," said the woman. "Well," said Coyote, "walk 
on; you will reach your people some time. I am going back to my home." 

Coyote pretended to dejiart, while the old woman slowly rose from her 
seat. Coyote, however, walked around her, picked up a stone and knocked 
her down with a blow on the back of her head. He kicked her about until 
her skin peeled ott". Having shaken out her entrails, he put on the woman's 
skin. When he looked at his shadow, he saw that he exactly resembled 
the old woman in appearance. He imitated her walk, 
hobbling and supporting himself on a staff. He came to flayer^"*^^ 

the sunnnit of a hill, whence he beheld a wikiup. He 
was now walking just like the old woman and, like her, sat down for a 

1 Cf. the following incidents with Gushing, 461-463; Spinden, 21; Schoolcraft, (b) 40-41; 
Curtin, 318, 359; Boas, (c) 138. 



242 Anthropological Papers American Museum of A'atural History. [Vol. II, 

rest at short intervals. He used both hands to grasp his stick. As he 

approached the camp, the girls ran up to him. He sat down to tell them 

of the strange Indian from the East \\'iio had met him and had returned to 

his people. The girls took Coyote home, supporting him on both sides. 

He saw his brother's skin hanging on a pole, and began to cry; but they 

could not see his tears because they were rolling down beneath the old 

woman's skin. When they gave him food, he acted as the old woman had 

told him, eating some and putting the rest under his knee. At sunset, the 

Indians were going to dance. The girls looked into his eyes and noticed 

their strange appearance. They said, "How queer her eyes look! They 

look like Coyote's." Coyote said, "You must not speak like that, girls. 

Don't mention Coyote." All the people went to the dance, leaving the 

children with Coyote. AVhile the dance commenced outside. Coyote put 

the girls to bed. Cum earum pudendis quasi copulare vellet ludere incipie- 

bat. The girls said, "She is acting just like Coyote." Coyote said, "Don't 

speak like that girls. Don't mention Coyote." 

Towards evening, the people came to ask the old woman to dance. 

Coyote began to dance very stiffly. Unseen he shed tears 

Secures Wolf's under the woman's skin. Towards morning his brother's 
scalp at dance, . . ... 

escapes. skin was tossed to him. He put it around his neck and 

began to dance up and down. Suddenly he jumped up, 

dropped the woman's skin and ran away. The Indians gave chase, and 

shot at him repeatedly, but could not hurt him. They shot his hair off. 

As he came to their former camp-sites, he took down the quivers and shot 

his arrows back at them. He used u]i all his arrows. AVhen they had 

nearly overtaken him, he suddenly disappeared in a cavity in the ground. 

They looked everywhere. "He came this way, he must be somewhere." 

T"hey could detect nothing but a heap of old Coyote excrements. They 

talked to each other about the dung-heap, and finally said, "That must 

be he." When they began shooting again. Coyote rose and ran away. 

He got very tired. When he came to another cavity, he again transformed 

himself into old Coyote excrements. When they came up to the place, they 

looked around and saw nothing. Again they had a council and decided he 

must be in the excrements. As soon as they began shooting, he got u]i and 

ran away. Finally he got to a body of water and wished he would change 

into a water-spider. He immediately tin-ned into one, and swam across. 

The pursuers got to the edge of the water, but could not see anything. 

They were obliged to give up the chase and return home. 

Coyote walked on eastward, carriying his brother's scalp. He put it on 

a rock facing the east. Then he went to where Wolf's 

body lay buried, and went to sleep cr}'ing. Suddenly Wolf 

returned to life. Coyote heard him howling on the other side of the hills. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 243 

"Why (lid you wake me up? I was dreaming." Coyote went to the 
rock, brought back Wolfs skin and covered his brother's body with it. 
He put him together again. Wolf was restored by Coyote. 

Coyote and Wolf were going to war. The hostile Indians (x\ndavits) 
were surrounding them. Wolf cautioned his brother not to peep out of 
their grass-lodge. "If you hear any noise outside, it will 
mean that I am fighting the enemy." Coyote covered radians ^ ^ ^ 
his face. The enemy were jumping about, touching the 
lodge. He heard his brother fighting. Wolf had just shot off all his arrows, 
and was defending himself with his bow. The enemy were jumping against 
the lodge again. Then Coyote looked outside. The very moment he 
peeped out, Wolf was slain. 

Coyote fell down, cr}ing, "The enemy have slain my older brother." 
Then he fled, crjdng as he ran along. After a while, he returned to track 
the enemy. He stopped wherever they had left a camp- 
fire. Blowing on the ashes, he secured fire for himself, woif^s^sca^n'"^^'^^ 
The next day he caught up with an old squaw. He asked 
her what she was doing there. She told him she was walking behind her 
people on account of her old age. She showed him how she walked along. 
Then Coyote killed her with a rock, skinned her and put the skin on his own 
body. He imitated her gait and walked on until he arrived at the enemy's 
camp. They were having a scalp-dance around a pole with Wolf's scalp. 
Coyote played the part of the old woman. When he got close to the dancers, 
the Indians tossed the scalp at him. He seized it and began to dance like 
the other old women. When he received it the second time, he ran away 
with it as fast as he could. Then they recognized him. They pursued 
Coyote, but soon saw that they could not catch him. 

Coyote walked home crying. WTien he arrived at the lodge, he placed 
the scalp where his brother generally lay down to rest. He fell asleep. At 

first, he built a fire every morning; later he became so lazy 

•f >^' -' Wolf revives, 

that he never built one at all. He was continually lament- 
ing his brother's death. One morning his brother AVolf shouted at him, 
"Get up, Coyote! Make a fire." Coyote jumped up immediately, and 
built a fire. He blew on the flames and looked at his brother stealthily. 
Wolf was alive again. 



244 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

3. The Theft of Fire. 

One winter evening, Coyote went outside to defeeate. He looked down 

as he was squatting there, and noticed a fire below. He 
Coyote discov- .:,.,. 

ers fire, anus thought he saw it right in his anus and jumped up. Then 
counsels steal- ]^^. ^..^^y ^j^g^t jj ^j^g -^rav down the mountain. He asked his 
ing it. 

anus, "What's that fire for?" It answered, "You are 

crazy. Some other Indians own it. Crane is their chief. Go and get their 
fire for yourself." Coyote did not tell any one that night, but went to 
sleep. 

In the morning Coyote painted all his body. Then he talked to the 
Indians. He said, "I saw something last night. I saw fire from the moun- 
tain. Shall we go and get the fire?" All the Indians debated whether 
they should go or not. The Mice, the Rats and all the 
Crane^s^rrbe^ other men went along. The women stayed at home. Coy- 

ote defecated. His excrements told him to have a feast 
with the Crane people. "Eat with them and enjoy yourselves." They went 
over the mountains. As they walked along, they saw the fire. This was the 
first time they had ever seen fire. The other Indians talked about Coyote, 
while he was not listening. "Let him go by himself, when we get there," 
they said. "Don't go with him, or they'll give us excrements to eat." So 
when they got to the Crane's people, all went to different tents; while Coyote 
went to an old womart's tent. 

\Mien all had arrived. Crane addressed his people. He told them to 
receive their Ansitors hospitably. All began to cook. The old woman 
stirred excrements with the food she was preparing for 
oi visiTo^s^^"^^" Coyote. Coyote ate and said, "This tastes sweet; this 
tastes well." At night all got ready for a feast. The Sho- 
shone were placing the hand-game, 'i'hey said they would leave the offals 
of their feast for Coyote. As they were gambling. Coyote approached. 
He looked at the offals. "Well, uncle," they said, "we have eaten. Go 
ahead; eat what we have left for you." He ate, saying, "It tastes well. 
I like it." In the night. Coyote went out at short intervals, sa}ing, "lam 
looking for girls." Apud puellas ambulabat, earumque pudenda scruta- 
batur. Comas non invenit. Ad castra rediit. Cantavit "Absunt comae." 
The people told him to go around again. This time he stayed away, a long 
time. Multas comas invenit. Rediit, cantavit "Multae sunt comae." 

The Shoshone were still gambling. Crane's people were performing 

the nu'akin dance. Crane told the Shoshone they could 

ing°^teais flre.*^' ^^ "" Pnjojing themselves at gambling; later they might 

come and see the dance. Coyote joined in the nu'alcin, 

wearing a head-dress that reached the ground. The old squaws said to 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 245 

him, "You are not watching your head-dress; you are dragging it along the 
ground and singeing its edge at the fire." But Coyote only did tliis when 
the women were watching him. When they did not see him, he pulled of! 
the fire. Towards dawn he summoned a council of his people. "As soon 
as we can get their fire and their food," he said, "we shall all run away." 
Crane's people kept all their food in a large bag high up on a tree. Crane 
kept the fire in his own lodge. The^e was another dance that night. While 
it was going on, Coyote went about, and his head-dress caught fire. He 
took the fire, hid it under his blanket, and sneaked out. 

The Indians told Jack-rabbit to play his flute outside of all the enemies' 
wikiups, so their hosts would fall asleep. Jack-rabbit went crane's pine- 

around and played. Everybody listened, and fell asleep. nuts captured; 
While they were all sleeping, the Shoshone attempted to ^^ 
steal the food. Again and again Coyote tried to jump up the tree, but 
could not reach the bag. All his followers tried in vain. At last they asked 
the woodpeckers to put their bills together. Thus they reached up. The 
bills pierced the bag, and the food fell out through the hole. It was pine- 
nut food. The Indians ate; then they ran away with the pine-nuts and 
the fire. 

In the morning. Crane's people got up. They tried to start a fire. They 
could not get it to burn. They looked for the food-sack, 
and there was nothing in it. "Wliere are those Indian theit7°pursuit. 
visitors ? " they asked. "They are all gone." Crane looked 
around. "Let us pursue those Indians," he said, "and get back our food 
and our fire." They started out in pursuit of the Shoshone. They kept 
going till they saw the fugitives. 

Coyote was in his war-dress now. The enemy shot at him, but missed 
every time. He was the last in line, keeping directly in 
front of the enemy. They continued shooting at him; jjjue^" ^ ^^^' 
they shot all his hair off, but could not hurt him. He ran 
to and fro. xA.t last he got tired, he was exhausted. He did not know what 
to do. When he came to an old track, he hid in it. They looked for him, 
but could not see him. "Where did he go to?" they asked. At last they 
saw the track. " That must be he." They threw a rock at him, and he ran 
away. They continued shooting at him. He began to fall behind. He got 
to wh£re there was a pile of old excrements, and hid there. The enemy 
came up and did not see him. At last they said, "That must be he," and 
aimed at him. He ran once more. When Coyote was completely ex- 
hausted, he gave the food and the fire to the men in front of him. The 
enemy then overtook Coyote, and killed him. They skinned him. They 
looked all over his body. They could not find the stolen property, so they 
went on. 



246 Anthropological Papers American Mttsevm of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

Crane's people killed the Indians one by one. The Indians passetl the 
Indians killed ^'^^^^ 3"<^1 ^^^ along the line. Jack-rabbit jumped aside 
Hai's leg escapes from the road and hid in a hole. There were then only 
with nuts. ^^^.^ Indians left, Hai (a black bird), and Rock-squirrel. 

Hai was carrying the food, and Rock-squirrel the fire. T'he enemy nearly 
caught Hai. The bird wished his leg would rot. His leg rotted, and he 
put the food into it. Then he fell down, exhausted. Crane said, "You 
are a great chief," and kicked him. Hai screeched, and his leg flew off; 
but Crane and his followers did not notice it. The leg ran away by itself. 
Crane searched Hai and cut him up, but could not find the food or the 
fire on his body. At last, they looked down and noticed that one of his 
legs was gone. They looked for the missing leg. Someone had seen it 
fly away. They discovered its track and followed it. Hai wished it would 
rain and snow behind him. The rain and snow fell, and effaced his track. 
At last they saw his footsteps again going up a mountain. They had a 
council. "There is no use pursuing him," they said, "he is too far. Let 
us go after Rock-squirrel, who has the fire." Hai's leg went westward, 
scattering all the pine-nuts on the way; that is why the people living there 
have pine-nuts now. 

The next day Crane pursued Rock-squirrel. Rock-squirrel hid the fire 

bv his breast; that is why he has a spot there, as if he 
Rock-squirrel , ' , , , rm i i • i i • 

escapes with fire, had b(>en burnt. Ihey got close to him, nearly catching 

Pursuit aban- j^jji^ several times. He got on a steep cliff and jumped 

down, throwing the firesticks all over the mountains. He 

said to the fire, "Everybody is going to use you. Go and burn everj^'here." 

This is how all the Indians got fire. Crane came to the cliff. He was 

fatigued. He saw the fire burning everj-where. So he said, "I'll give up 

the chase and go to the river." His son, Chickadee, said, "I shall go too." 

Crane turned into the bird he is now, and went to the river, where he 

belonged. 

Now Jack-rabbit came out of the hole he had hidden in, and hit Coyote 

Indians re- with his whistle. Coyote woke up. "Why did you wake 

stored by Jack- me up?" he asked. "I was dreaming." Jack-rabbit hit 

rabbit. every one of the Indians with his whistle. All thus came 

back to life. 

4. The Theft of Pine-nuts. 

A long time ago the other Indians were gathering to play the hand-game. 

Indians steal They played two nights in succession. They had their 

nuts and flee. pine-nut food suspended from the top of a pole. The 

Rats tried to climb up to get it, but fell down. At last the Woodpecker and 



1909.] Loicie, The Northern Shoshone. 247 

his brother made an effort. Woodpecker's brother stretched his bill aiul 
made a hole in the bag containing the food. The pine-nuts fell down and 
the Rats ate some of them. They liked them better than any other kind of 
food, so they fled with the stolen nuts. 

The gamblers ceased plajing. An old woman was about to cook some 
nuts. They had disappeared. The other Indians saw Discovery of 

that some one had stolen their food. When their chief, theft, council. 
Crane, found out about the theft, he marked his legs as they are now. 
Then he summoned a council and started in pursuit of the thieves. 

On the way. Coyote stopped fleeing ut cum rana muliebri coiret. Ilium 

in mulierem incumbentem Grus calcibus interfecit. Crane's people also 

killed Magpie and all the rest of Coyote's people, except Hai. For a long 

time, they could not catch him. Then he got tired and 

TJn successful 
could not run any further. He wished his leg would rot. pursuit. Hsfl 

It rotted and he put the nuts into it. The Crane's people s*^®^ nuts for 
caught up and kicked him. They kicked his rotten leg, 
so that it flew away. They killed Hai. Then Crane sat down. "Search 
his body for the nuts," he said. His followers looked all over Hal's body, 
but found no trace of the food. Then Crane said he had seen one leg fly 
away somewhere. They looked for the leg, but it was gone. It got to 
Coyote's Indians in the west, so all of them have pine-nuts now. The nuts 
used to grow here, but now they are among the Dubadi^ka (Eaters of pine- 
nuts). 

Hai got up again and went to an island with treeless mountains, where 
Crow joined him. 

5. The Flood.^ 

Coyote saw some wild-geese flying and begged them for some feathers. 

They flew down and gave him some. Then he was able to join them. 

When they got to the summit of a high mountain, they saw that the water 

below was mo\'ing a little. They had a council there, debating Avhether they 

should wash the whole Avorld. They decided to do so, and 

raised the water until it filled all the" low parts of the earth. ^ ^°y°'!, ^T^ 

^ during nood. 

Everyone except Coyote and his companions was drowned. 
Someone shut off the water; no one knows who. A\Tien everything was dry- 
ing u}) again, the sur\'ivors took sticks and placed them on the slopes of the 
mountains. That is why we have trees on the mountains now. They 
made little creeks and lakes. Then they also created the fish and all the 
other animals for the Indians. 



1 Cf. Kroeber, (f) 96. 



248 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Xo\. II, 

G. Coyote and his Daughters.^ 

Coyote was living with his family. The women were celebrating a 

scah^-dance, and his daughters were taking part in it. 
Coyote prepares i ' '^ '^ / 

for war. Life- Covote was watching them. He blew the air towards 
^°^^^- them. Ita fecit ut vestibus ablatis pudenda muliebra 

vidisset. Formosis pudendis amore inflammatus coitum concupi\at. Coy- 
ote began to make arrows. "VMien he had finished them, he hung them 
up in his lodge. He told his wife he intended to go on a war expedition 
as soon as he was ready. "If an}'thing happens to me," he said, "I will 
make a fire and you will be able to see the smoke." 

Coyote started out. \Mien he was at some distance from the dweUing, 
he shot an arrow into the air, which hit him in the side. He built a big 
Wounds him- fire. His family saw the smoke and knew that something 
self, signals for ^y^g wrong. The old woman sent the older daughter to 
daughter, is see what was the matter; but Coyote's son went there 

dropped by her. fij-gt AMien the boy came up to him, Coyote was crawling 
on the ground, pretending to be very sick. I'he boy noticed the arrow 
and attempted to pull it out; but Coyote told him to let it go, because it 
hurt him badly. He asked his son to call his sisters. The boy returned 
and requested the older girl to go to her father. "WTien she came up, Coyote 
told her that someone had shot him. He dropped to the ground, and 
groaned as if he were dying. He said it was impossible for him to walk, 
and asked the girl to carry him home. She took her father on her back. 
He asked her to pull up her dress to prev(>nt the blood from trickling down 
and soiling the robe. Tunc demum membrum in vaginam inseruit. The 
girl threw him off, and ran away. Coyote told her to go home and bi<l his 
younger daughter come to him. 

The girl got home, and told her sister. The second daughter came. 
Itcrum vestibus altius cinctis cum filia coire conatus est. She dropped 

^ him and went home. He ordered her to send his wife to 
Assaults second i i . i 

daughter; carried him. At last the old woman came. She took him on her 
home by wife. back. Coire incepit cum uxore. His wife did not mind 
him; but went along until they reached home, where she put him down. 

Covote pretended he Avas getting sicker and sicker. He told his family 
he did not expect to live much longer. "Put a stick under me," he said. 
" When I die, the stick will break in two. Do not bury me in the ground, 
but cover me up and burn my remains. Don't look back going home, or a 



1 Cf. Dixon, (c) 270. Dorsey and Kroeber, 82. Kroeber, (a) 269; (e) 73. Matthews, 271. 



1909.] Loivie, The Northern Shoshone. 249 

ghost will pursue you. If you are in need of food, go to the rocks and look 

for rock-squirrels. After niv death a visitor will come to 

TT -,1 1 • " , , , Feigns death, 

you. He will bring you some presents, but don t treat gives dying in- 

him well. Let him depart. Then another visitor from structions, is 
, ,.,,.,.. 1-1 buried, 

the south will arrive, bringing a great many rock-scjuirrels. 

Talk to him, and treat him well. Let him marry our two daughters. I 

shall die within two days." Coyote tried the stick on each day; on the 

third day he broke it and dropped dead. His wife and children began to 

cry; but as Coyote had asked them not to mourn too long, they wrapped up 

the corpse, removed it from the lodge and startetl a fire. Then they went 

homewards. The boy put his arm akimbo and looked back through the 

opening between his arm and his body. He saw his father get up and run 

away with the funeral gifts. He informed his mother; but she rebuked 

him, asking him not to look back again, or a ghost might pursue them. 

The next day they looked for squirrels among the rocks. In the evening 
the first Hsitor announced by Coyote came with a dog anfl Returns in dis- 
several baskets. The old woman told him about Coyote's guise, marries 
orders and did not treat him well. She refused to let him *"^ ^^' 
marry the girls. He stayed overnight, but left in the morning. Then the 
man from the South arrived, bringing a great many rock-squirrels, which 
he threw on the ground before the old woman. She cleaned them and threw 
them on the fire to burn off the hair. Coyote laughed, "Yo ho," quite 
differently from his usual way of laughing. "The tails look burnt," said 
he. In the evening, the woman ordered her daughters to lie beside the 
stranger. "This is the man your father spoke about." Thus Coyote 
married the two girls. Xoctu cum eis assidue coibat. Mane filiarum vestes 
semine humidae lavandae erant. The women dried them outside. 

Coyote offered to show the boy where he had hunted those rock-squirrels. 
As they were going along, the boy said he could not find 
his former hunting ground any more. For a moment with^son"'^ ^°^ 
Coyote forgot himself and said, "I know where it is;" but 
he quickly added, "Xo, I don't know where it is." Omnibus noctibus 
Coyote assidue coibat cum mulieribus. One night the old woman heard a 
strange noise which sounded like a drum. She sent her son to find out 
what was the matter. Puer Canem conspexit membro inserto, dum cauda 
terrain violenter percutiebat. 

One day Coyote and his supposed brother-in-law were hunting for 

rock- squirrels. Covote bade the boy go on the other side 

' . . . . Recognized by 

of the rock and poke his stick into the crevices. In the son, unmasked 

meantime, Covote on his side was opening his mouth wide ^^ daughters; 

. . r„, , . flees, 

for the rock-squirrels to jump in. Ihe boy was peeping 

at him, however, and noticed four holes in his teeth, by which he recognized 



250 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

his father. The boy was badly frightened, dropped his stick, and ran home 

crying. Coyote tried to hire liim back. He hit the ground, shouting, "I 

have caught the thing that scared you away." The boy, however, did not 

listen to him; but ran home crying. He scolded his sisters, who were just 

drjdng their skirts, for ha%'ing married Coyote. The old woman asked him 

why he was chiding them. He answered, "Their husband is our father." 

Then the mother told her daughters to look for a wart on their husband's 

head. If they found one there, it was surely Coyote. In the evening. 

Coyote came home. Both his hands were filled with rock-squirrels. When 

he sat down, the two women began pla}dng with his head and pulled off his 

false hair. Coyote dropped all his disguise, and fled. 

After some time, a young man named Duck ^isited the Coyote family 

and married the two girls. They all began to wander about. One of the 

Girls married women gave birth to a girl. After a long time, Coyote 

to Duck. Coyote came hobbling along on crutches. Seeing the little girl, 
returns, makes i , (^t i i i i .^ t i • 

granddaughter he asked. Is that my granddaugliter : L,et me kiss 

ii^- her." He played with the little girl, making her dance up 

and down. Ceteris inscientibus membrum virile in puellae vaginam in- 

seruit. Quo facto, rupta mentula, dimidium in vagina remanebit. The 

baby began to cry; she continued cr^ang. Nobody knew why. Duck, 

who had been out hunting since early in the morning, returned. "What 

is ailing the girl?" he asked. No one could tell him. "From the time 

Coyote has played with her, she has been crying continually." She kept on 

cr}dng during the night. 

Duck went to Hummingbird, who was a medicine-man, and begged 

him to cure the child. Hummingbird ordered the fire to be put out and all 

Child cured, the holes in the wikiup to be covered up. This was the 

Coyote stunned custom of medicine-men. Wlien everything was closed 
by doctor. Fam- . , . , . , 

ily transferred to "P- ^hose present could hear Hummingbird moving about 

sky. and making a noise. He was sa}ing, "It must have 

been one of Coyote's tricks." Coyote said, "The medicine-men always 
blame me for ever\ihing." He rushed towards the ashes, and rekindled 
the fire. Hummingbird immediately flew away. The Duck family ex- 
tinguished the fire; then Hummingbird came in again. He flew towards 
the baby and began to suck. Canis nienibrum extraxit. He struck Coyote 
with it, knocking him down and stunning him. It fell into the fire and was 
burnt up. Then Duck, the two young women. Coyote's Avife and son, and 
the baby all flew up to the sky, where they form a constellation now. 

The next morning. Coyote woke up. He did not see any one aroimd. 

Coyote wakes, "Someone has left something in the fire to burn," he said. 

unable to leap up. n^ got a stick and began to rake the ashes. He found a 

half-cooked deer's head, and ate it up. He was all alone. After a while. 



1909.] Loicie, The Nortliern Shoshone. 251 

he looked up and saw all his relatives in the heavens. He tried to jump 
up there too, but could not reach them. He tried again and again, but 
failed everv time. 



7. Iron-Man (Wi'hin-daibo). 

(a) 

Iron-Man, the father of the white people, lived on the water; Wolf, the 

father of the Indians, lived underground. Wolf asked his 

son to \'isit his friend Wi'hindai'bo. The young man trav- ,„„!!.°^",„*w ^ * " 

•^ « lenges WoU. 

eled across the water until he reached Iron-Man's house. 
Iron-Man shook hands with the youth and in\'ited his father to visit him. 
"We shall see which one of us can beat the other in making guns." Wolf's 
son told his father of Iron-Man's invitation. Wolf got ready to go. Iron- 
Man locked up his house and sat down inside. 

The next morning Wolf started out. Wi'hindai'^bo's house was in the 
middle of the sea. When Wolf came nearer, the house 
began to shake. Wolf entered it with a breath of air. smoWne^'ccmtesr 
Iron- Man saw him. "You have arrived at your friend's 
dwelling," he said. Wi'hindai^bo was trailing his long pipe along the floor. 
He cut his tobacco, filled his pipe and began to smoke. He handed the 
pipe to Wolf, who smoked up all of the tobacco. Then the Father of the 
Indians took his little pipe from a quiver. Clouds of smoke rose. He 
handed the pipe to Wi'hindai^bo. Wi'hindai'bo could not smoke it all up. 
He filled the house with smoke until he was completely stupefied by it.^ 
Wolf's son told his father that Iron-Man was nearly dead. Then Wolf 
dispelled the smoke and made Iron-Man well again. 

They sat dow^n for a while. Then Wi'hindai^bo brought a large iroji 
ball, of which he gave half to his friend. "We are now Defeated in 

going to make guns," he said. Both made guns as quickly gun-making 

as possible, putting them up as soon as they were com- 
pleted. Wolf made more guns in the same time than Wi'hindai^bo. The 
Father of the Indians won. 

1 In another version, Iron-Man vomits and dies from smoking too much. 



252 Anthropological Papers American Miisetan of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

(b) 

Coyote went to visit ^Yi'hin(]ai'bo who lived in the middle of the big sea. 
He was sent there by his brother. When Coyote ap- 
host in smoking pi'oaclied his dwelling, Wi'hindai^bo locked himself in and 
match, lets him ^at down. Covote, nevertheless, was able to enter. Iron- 
Man had a large iron pipe, which he filled with tobacco. 
He smoked, then he handed the pipe to Coyote. Coyote just }nifFed once, 
and all the tobacco was consumed. Then Iron-Man filled the pipe a sec- 
ond time for his visitor. With one whiff, Coyote smoked up all the tobacco. 
Then Coyote took out his own little pipe^ and filled it with kinikkinik. 
He handed it to Wi'liindai'bo, who fainted from smoking it. Coyote wished 
that the doors, Avhich Wi'hindai^bo had shut, be blown away by the wind. 
The wind blew so hard that Wi'hindai^bo's house was beginning to totter. 
Wi'hindai'bo was trembling with fear. He was freezing. Coyote left him 
and lay down in the sunshine. Coyote asked Xii'neyunc for one of its 
wings and flew home. 

While Coyote was in Iron-Man's house, his host asked him whether 

Transposes the he could take down the sun. To show his power, Coyote 

sun, ^qqJ^ it down. Then Wi'hindai'bo could not see at all and 

got hurt stumbling against the objects in his dwelling. Coyote put the 

.sun back in its place. 

8. The Sun. 

(a) 

Long ago the Sun was so near to the earth that it burnt ])eople to death. 
Sun shot by All the Indians said to Cottontail (rabbit): "The sun is 
Cottontail. ^qq j^q^ Q^t into a hole and shoot it from there." In 

the evening. Cottontail hid in a hole, and stayed there until sunrise. When 
the Sun came up in the morning, Cottontail shot his arrows at it; but they 
were all burnt up. Some one told him to use his fire-drill instead of an 
arrow. He took the drill andshot it at the Sun. He knocked the Sun down 
into his hole. This is how Cottontail's neck and legs were burnt yellow. 

The Sun Avas d(»ad. The people cut open its chest and took out its 

„ . ^ ^ (rail. Then they debated who should make the Sun go ui). 

Raised to pres- j^ .' _ ^ i_ 

ent height by "Perhaps the Horned-Toad (?) can make it go up with his 
Horned-toad. ^^^^^ horns," they said. The Horned-Toad took the Sun 

and raised it on his horns to where it is now. 



1 According to anotlier version, a "small straight-pipe. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 253 

(b) 

The Sun was burning people to death. One day Jack-rabhit shot at 
the Sun. He shot off all his arrows in vain; at last he got sun shot by 

his fire-di-ill and hit the Sun with it. It fell down and Jack-rabbit, 
scorched him yellow where he is spotted to-day. He made the Sun over 
again out of its gall, and also made the Moon. Then he told the Sun; "Be 
this way hereafter and don't burn people." He told the Moon to shine only 
a little. Then both went up to where they are now.' 

9. The Bear and the Deer.^ 

The Bears and the Deer were neighbors. One day the old B(>ar and 
the old Deer went to dig roots, while their children re- 
mained at home. The women sat down to louse each kmed'^by'Bear*^ 
other. "Let me louse you in the back of your neck," said 
Bear. She began lousing and wrung Deer's neck. Then she returned 
home, bringing the Deer's flesh, with her. "Our mother is returning," said 
one of the cubs, she is bringing us meat and fat." "Keep still," said the 
older one, "don't show it to the Deer." They ate up the Deer's flesh; then 
they said to the fawns, "This is your mother's fat." When the young Deer 
saw what had happened, they cried. The old Bear went to them and said, 
"Don't cry; your mother has found many roots. She has gone to sleep 
and will come back again. I am going to her now." She went away to get 
some more meat. 

The fawns wished to avenge their mother's death. They asked the 
cubs to play with them. "Let two of us go into the 
sweat- lodge and get smoked," they said. The cubs agreed. ^^^^ 
Then the deer went in first. When there was too much 
smoke, they cried, "Let us get out," and the bears allowed theiii to go out. 
"Now you two go inside." WTien the cubs were inside, the deer fanned 
the smoke in. After a while, the bears asked to be let out; but, instead the 
fawns stopped up every little hole as quickly as possible. The cubs suffo- 
cated. The Deer painted the cubs' faces red, and placed the corpses at the 
entrance to Bear's wikiup. When the Bear came home, she saw her chil- 
dren peeping out at her and noticed their appeafance. "You are wasting 
my red paint," she said. When she saw what had happened, she ran 
around in a passion of grief. "Who has killed them? Who has killed my 
children?" 

^ Cf. Powell, (a) 52 ef seq. 

- Gatschet, 118. Dixon, (b) 79. Kroeber, (c) 203. My version was obtained at Inkom, 
Idaho. 



254 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

The fawns said to each other, "How coukl we kill the cubs?" They 
ran away. After a while, the younger one got tired, 
bear, cross stream When he was quite exhausted, they took refuge in a pine- 
over grandfath- trunk, sleeping in the hollow of the tree. The old Bear 
had tracked them and came up to their resting-place. The 
older fawn saw her coming, and woke up his brother. "Here is the one 
who wishes to eat us up. She has overtaken us. Come, wake up, younger 
brother." The Bear did not wish to eat them in the dark. "At daybreak," 
she said to herself, "I shall make a good feast of them." She was tired and 
went to sleep. She slept soundly. The two young ones got out of the tree, 
jumped over her and ran away. They arrived at the bank of the Salmon 
River. Their maternal grandfather was sitting there with his legs stretched 
out. "Ho! Take us across, Blue-Bald-Head" (a bird^). He allowed them 
to pass over his legs to the other side of the stream. They ran to their 
grandfather's lodge; then they ran around the mountains. The old man 
transformed them into deer. 

The Bear was going to have a feast, she thought. She tracked the 

children. She came to the river and asked Blue-Bald- 
Bear follows, 

is thrown into Head to let her cross. He stretched out his legs and the 
^^^^^- old woman went across. WTien she got to his knee, she 

bent down to drink. She hit his knee with her cup. He pulled up his legs 
and the Bear fell into the water. She did not pursue the deer any more. 
She floated for a month; then she came out where her cubs had been killed. 
She looked at her body; all the hair had come off. 



10. The Weasels and the Giants. 

Weasel and his brother were living togeth(M-. They used to go out hunt- 
ing in the morning and return in the evening. Once a Dzo'avits caught 

Weasel's brother and devoured him. Weasel mourned 
Weasel mourns 

brother's death; his death. He was crying all night. His wife said, "Keep 
instructs wife. ^^jjj^ ^,^^^^ brother will come back." Weasel went out to 
look for his brother. He went to Dzo'avits' house; he saw his brother's 
body hanging cut up in the tent. He went home and told his wife. Then 
he said to her, "I am going to hunt now. Don't let our boy cry too much; 
feed him when he cries. If Dzo'avits comes to see you, don't tell him 
an}'thing. Don't take any food from him. Si cenare vult, carnem cum 
excremcntis misce; cum acjua oportet urinam miscere." He also left his 
obsidian knife at home. "You must send Dzo'avits out for some wood. 
In the meantime I will get on top of the house." 

1 Crane (?). 



1909.] Loivie, The Northern Shoshone. 255 



Weasel left. After a while Dzo'avits apj^roaehed the Weasel's lodge. 
He dropped his bag, which was made of sagebrush bark, 
outside. It contained the dead Weasel's flesh. The giant ^e^seis 
entered the lodge, sat down and fell asleep. Weasel's child 
began to cry. Dzo'avits woke up and asked, "What is my grandchild cry- 
ing for? Let me have your cup, I will give him some food." The Weasel 
woman answered, "No, there is nothing the matter with him, he always 
cries like that." 

It began to rain Avhen Weasel returned. He spoke to the giant as if he 
were a friend. The woman said to her boy, "Move out of the way; I must 
take off your father's moccasins." Then she addressed the 
giant. " Grandfather, go out and get some fire- wood for us. y^^Q^ 
We '11 cook some jack- rabbits for you." Dzo'avits went out 
to look for fire-wood. When he got to the wood, all the sage-brushes cried 
out together, "Get me, I'll make a good fire." The giant ran to and fro, 
not knowing which to take.^ He stayed out a very long time. In the mean- 
time, Weasel sat down on the top of the wikiup. He was waiting for the 
giant to come back. At last Dzo'avits returned with some wood. He told 
the woman how each of the sage-brush trees had asked him to take it. The 
woman said "These brushes always act in this way." 

Weasel's wife set a jack-rabbit before the giant. Caro verum cum 
excrementis mixta, aqua cum urina. Dzo'avits cut up the jack- rabbit and 
said, " That must be a different kind of game." The young 
boy began crying. "Let me give my grandson something dinner, 
to eat," said Dzo'avits. "No," said the mother, "he is not 
hungry; he always cries this way." While the Dzo'a^^ts was sitting there, 
Weasel, who was seated on the roof, seized his hair, and began to pull him 
up. The giant asked the woman what was the matter. She told him such 
things always happened in her lodge. She went outside and carried in the 
wood fetched by Dzo'avits. Then she built a big fire. When the fire was 
built. Weasel lifted the giant directly above it, ita ut testes combusti essent. 
Weasel told his wife to get the obsidian knife. Caput testesque excisi et 
ejecti. 

Testium ejectorum crepitus a gigantis fratribus auditus. The giant had 
told his brothers that, if he caught some game, lie would signal to them by 
making a noise. Wlien they heard the sound, they said to each other, 
"Our brother has killed some game." The Weasels cut Flight and 

up Dzo'avits' body into small pieces, which they hung on separation of 
a tree. They buried his head in the ground. Then 
Weasel said to his wife, "You may go to youj family or wherever else you 

1 Cf. Dorsey, (b) 32. 



256 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

wish to go. I am going to run around the mountains and turn into a weasel." 

He left. His wife had a magical cane by means of which she was able to 

vault A'ery far. She made two steps and arrived at her uncle's lodge. 

The giants resolved to A-isit their brother and join him in feasting on his 

„. ^ , game. Two of them were miracle- workers, who alwavs 

Giants seek ^ ' 

Dzoavits ; Won- managed to get ahead of the rest. They were called Wa'han 

der-workers out- Da'dapekono.^ In order to prevent this pair from getting 

strip companions, "^ ^ , ^ o o 

to the game before the rest, their brethren hid one of each 

of the Da'dapekono's moccasins. I'he miracle- workers looked for their 
moccasins, but failed to find them. They hopped along on one moccasin 
behind their brethren. At length they caught up to one of the giants, who 
was tr}ing to lure a ground-hog out of a hole. "You two are miracle- 
workers," he said, "I wish you would get that ground-hog out for me." 
The Da'dapekono knew exactly where the ground-hog was, but they feigned 
they did not. They just dug up dirt. The giant said, " You two are miracle- 
workers. You'll be able to get it out somehow." After he had left, the 
two wizards got the ground-hog out, killed it, ate its flesh and made moc- 
casins of its skin. Then they ran after the other giants and soon outdis- 
tanced them. 

The Da'dapekono arrived at the tree on which Dzo'avits' flesh was 

hanging. Testes conspectos assidue devoraverunt. Hi 

Dzoavits' flesh, semper omnium animalium testes edebant, quare No'yo- 

discover brother's ^Hka, Tcstium Editorcs, appellati sunt. WTien they were 
death, mourn. . , , ,. i t i 

through eating, they began a wresthng-match. In the mean- 
time, the other giants came up. They noticed their brother's flesh and said, 
"Our brother has killed a great deal of game; perhaps he is looking for 
some more now." All of them began to feast, except the two No'yodika, 
who continued wrestling. "Why don't you stop wresthng and eat?" the 
other giants asked them. Suddenly the wrestlers ceased. They had kicked 
up the earth covering the dead Dzo'avits' head, and decided to hurl it at 
the feasting giants. These noticed the surprise of the miracle-workers, and 
shouted at them; "What is the matter? Quidnam videtis? Matris vagi- 
nam ?" ^J'hen they threw Dzo'avits' head among the crowd. The giants 
recognized it imm(>diately, and stopjied eating. They saw that they had 
eaten their own brother's flesh and vomited what they had swallowed. 
"Someone has killed our brother," they said to one another. "We have 
been eating his flesh." Now the Da'dapekono shouted at them: "What 
is the matter with you? Quidnam videtis? Matris vaginam?" The 
giants tried to mourn Dzo'avits' death by crying, but they did not know how. 
The No'yodika taught them. "You nnist cry this way — 'ai, ai, ai.' 
This is the way people cry to-day. 

I In another version, this pair is identified with the water-youths (Pa-bi'hiano). 



> >> 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 257 

The other giants said to the wizards, "You must find the murderer, 
you are miracle- workers." The Da'dapekono separated; Pursuit of Wea- 
and quickly ran around the mountains in opposite direc- ^^^'^ vfite. 
tions. They noticed the two places where Weasel's wife had landed in her 
jumps with the vaulting-pole. They came back, separated, and ran around 
the mountains once more. Again they saw the Weasel-woman's footsteps. 
Then they returned and told their people. The giants started in pursuit of 
the murderer. 

The Weasel-woman, with her son, was living at her uncle's lodge. Her 
uncle was also a miracle-worker. He had the hearts of uncie instructs 
many kinds of animals hanging up in his wikiup. There Weasei-woman. 
were many empty lodges around his own. He gave orders to his niece. 
"You must take these hearts and cook them, but be careful not to taste of 
any." She cooked the hearts, but tasted of one. When she brought them to 
her uncle, he took a little of each heart and placed it in an empty lodge. 
The next morning there were Indians in every wikiup but one. The 
wizard asked his niece whether she had tasted of any of the hearts. She 
confessed that she had tasted of one. Then he said, "That was your 
mother's heart. Look outside now. The Dzo'avits people are coming." 

The No'yodika had told the giants' wives that their husbands had killed 
a great many animals. They always fooled people in this Destroys the 

way. When the Weasel- woman looked outside of the giants, 
lodge, she saw many giants approaching. The two miracle workers and the 
other Dzo'avits surrounded the Indian wikiups. The Weasel-woman's uncle 
went outside his wikiup. Minxit. The Avater turned into ice and rolled 
down towards the enemy. The ice caught the Dzo'avits so that they stuck 
fast. The two No'yodika were the only ones that could walk about freely. 
They were shouting continually, "Dzanun! Dzanun! Dzanun!" Then 
they went home. The other Giants were all frozen to death. The Weasel's 
uncle took a knife and cut off their heads. He removed their hearts, and 
hung them up in his lodge. When the No'yodika came home, the women 
asked them what had happened to the other giants. They replied, "All of 
them have been killed." Then the women cried and cut their hair.^ 

11. Dzo'avits and the Weasels. 

Weasel was liA-ing in his lodge. In the evening, he began to long for his 
brother. He was getting sleepy and his wife told him to weasel mourns 
go to bed; but he was still thinking of his older brother, i^rother. 
"Dzo'avits is eating my older brother," he said. He cried, and continued 



' Vid. Powell, (a) 45, for an essentially different Dzo'avits story. 



258 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

to cry all night. His wife asked him to keep still, but he did not cease 
wailing. "My brother is being eaten up by the Dzo'ants." At last he fell 
asleep; but when he woke up in the morning, he cried anew. Ilis wife said, 
"Keep quiet! Perhaps your brother will be back soon." 

Weasel, however, went away cr\ing. He knew where the Giant's tent 
was situated. He got to it and looked in. He had his 
vits' lodge ° ' obsidian knife with him. A woman was sitting there, 
weanng a willow cup. Weasel entered and sat down. 
He saw a large knife covered with blood hanging in the lodge. "Let me 
have that cup," said Weasel to the woman. She gave him the cup she had 
been making, after cleaning its bottom. Weasel hung the cup around his 
neck; it was very greasy. He sat down, and remained seated for a long 
time. At last he heard Dzo'avits coming home. The giant dropped liis 
bundle outside and entered the lodge. 

"Coire volo" mulieri inquit. Uxor supina cunnum exposuit. Mustela 
in ejus rimam terram injecit. Dzo'avits in vaginam membrum inseruit, 
futuere coepit. Mentulam silicem tangere sensit. "Hoc quid est?" 
Juvenis silicem in jecerat. Conspecto juvene "Tu" Dzo'avits inquit, "ter- 
ram jecisti in uxoris rimam." Longe et assidue coibat. Sole oriente 
coitus completus. 

Dzo'avits got up. "Bring us something to eat," he said to his wife, 
"I have brought some Indians home." The woman 
tims escape ' iii'ose, took the large, bloody knife and went outside, 
where her husband had left his Indian captives. His wife 
could not find any in his bag. "There are none here," she said, "you must 
have lost them. Where are they?" "There are not many of them," the 
giant answered; "there are only a few. They may be in the bottom of the 
bag." The woman brought in his bag. He looked in, but the Indians 
were gone. He began to cry. At last he stopped crying and sat down. 

He looked at Weasel and noticed that he was very fat, so the giant thought 

he would be good to eat. He proposed that thev should try 
Dzoavits kUled , , , , tt.- i , ", t. -, • 

by Weasel In to cut each Other s throats. v\ easel agreed and Dzo'avits 

throat-cutting ,(„^i^ \^^^ big knife. "I'll trv to cut vours first," said 
match. ' ' 

the boy. Dzo'avits put his head in position and Weasel 

tried to cut his neck. The giant laughed. He said to his wife, "You must 

not look at us two." The woman lay down and covered herself up. The 

giant again told her she must not watch them. Weasel began to cut once 

more. Then he drew out his obsidian knife. As he was going to use it, 

the woman noticed it. "What kind of a stone has that boy got? What is 

the boy doing there?" she asked. Dzo'avits got his neck free. "Where 

is that knife?" "Nowhere," said W<>asel. "I spat it out, I threw it away. 



1909.] Lou'ie, The Northern Shoshone. 259 

I have n't it any more." Then he began to cut the giant's neck. Dzo'avits 

again warned his Avife not to watch them, so she lay down and covered her 

face. Weasel placed his knife against Dzo'avits' throat. Dzo'avits fell 

asleep. Then Weasel took out his obsidian and cut off the giant's head. 

He carried it outside and threw it away. The woman arose. The boy 

struck her with the knife and killed her. Thus he killed them both. 

Weasel sat down and began to cry. He wept for a long time, then he 

stopped. He picked up the head of an Indian, looked at 

it and threw it away again. He could not find his older brother's hair, 

brother's grav hair. He searched for it everA'where, but restores him to 

. . ^ ' life, 

could not find it. He picked up one Indian head after 

another, examining all; but could not find his brother's gray hair. He 

sat down, and cried for a long time. At last he picked up Dzo'avits' head. 

He examined the giant's body. Viri anum non invenit multis comis. Eius 

excrementa scrutinatus. At last he pulled ofl:' the giant's teeth and looked 

between his jaws. Between the giant's big teeth, he found his brother's 

gray hair, and took it out. In the night, he brought it home, crjdng. At 

home he tied it to his fire-drill, and stuck it in the ground until morning. 

His wife was there. In the morning, his brother rcAived and called Weasel; 

"Get up, younger brother." AVeasel said, "My older brother is talking, 

listen to him." The older brother said, "Get up and eat." He laughed. 

Weasel looked at his brother, threw his arms about him and kissed him. 

"Let me alone and eat," said the older brother. At last, he let him alone. 

Both of them laughed. The older brother was well again, but he could not 

lie down comfortal^lv. 



12. Dzo'avits and Mosquito. 

Dzo'avits was li%ing in his tent. He used to go out to look for Indians. 

Once, while he was gone. Mosquito came to his lodge and sat down by the 

giant's wife. After a while Dzo'avits returned, carrying some Indians 

in his bag. He came in. Cum uxore coire concupivit. Mulier recubuit. 

Cruribus distentis Culex in vaginam silicem iniecit, quo 

.. TT 1 • » 1 Ti 1 1 • Mosquito kills 

lacto exiit. He went to the giant s bag, liberated the im- Dzoavits in 

prisoned Indians and bade them go home. Coitu com- t^iroat-cutting 

1 T^ , • u /^ • 1 J) 1 -1 1 • match, 

pleto Dzo'avits ortus est. Go outside, he said to his 

wife, "and bring in some food." She looked for the Indians, but could 
not find them. Dzo'avits was very angry. He thought he would eat Mos- 
quito and proposed a throat-cutting match to him. He sharpened his white 
loiife. "You cut my neck first," said he to the boy. Mostjuito took out his 
obsidian and killed the giant. 



260 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

13. The Weasel Brothers. 

Dzo'avits was walking, pulling along some wood. Weasel tracked him 

until he caught sight of him. lllius testes pendebant, pendentes juvenis 

YouriK Weasel (Weasel) tutudit. "What is this?" asked the giant. 

wrestles with and "Ille juvenis meos testes tundit." They built a fire, and 

i s zoavi s. ^j_^^ giant proposed a wrestling-match. "Whoever loses, 

shall be thrown into the fire." Weasel won and, throwing his opponent 

into the fire, killed him with a fire-stick. 

"Take care," said Weasel's older brother, "another powerful Dzo'avits 

will kill you; don't go over there." Weasel was not afraid, and did not 

believe what his brother told him. As he was going along, he saw another 

giant looking down from a mountain-rock. lllius quoque testes pendebant. 

Throws another ^^ barked like a dog. Juvenis pendentes testes acu pu- 

giant over a prec- pugit. "What is that? That weasel has stuck me. 

*^^'^®' Come, younger brother," said Dzo'avits, "look down at 

these girls." When AVeasel approached him, the giant tried to hurl him 

down; but the boy evaded him, and stole uj) behind him. Dzo'avits peeped 

down. "Have I killed him?" he asked. Weasel, who was then standing 

behind, pushed him over and killed him. 

Weasel was going along again. "Take care," said his brother, "a strong 

bear will kill you. Don't go in that direction. There is a 

Kills bears in ^ j^j^ ^ cubs, who kills strangers in a swinging-game, 

swinging game. ' *^ *? » t> 

They Avill kill you immediately." "^ly older brother," 

said Weasel, "I am going to look for them." He arrived at their home. 

They put him in the swing and the old bear moved the rope. She tried to 

throw him down; but he jumped in time, and was not hurt. Then he told 

the bears to get into the swing. He threw them all down and killed them. 

He scraped off the old bear's flesh, and put on her skin. In the meantime, 

the old Weasel had tracked him, thinking he might have been killed by the 

bear. At sunrise, he caught up to him and saw the bear's tracks. He 

peeped through the willows, took aim at the supposed bear and shot at it. 

He missed it by a trifle. Weasel leapt up and laughed at his brother; then 

the older Weasel also laughed. "What is the matter with you? You 

frightened me." "Oh, it was only a joke." 

The older Weasel wanted to hunt water-elk. Tiiey Avent to the bank 

T,- T, I. *!, of the stream, and the older brother took off his clothes. 
Disobeys broth- ' 

er, dies of thirst, "1 am going into the water," he said, "I am going to 
restored. hunt water-elk. You must not get frightened; if you run 

away you will die of thirst." He went in further and the water came up to 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 261 

his eyes. At last he was entirely beneath the water. The water-elk were 
standing up and jumping around. The younger Weasel suddenly became 
frightened and ran away, shooting off his arrows. He famished with thirst. 
The old Weasel had killed an elk and was skinning it. "Perhaps my younger 
brother ran away," he thought, "and died of thirst." He left the elk 
entrails in the water and tracked his brother. At last he found him and 
gave him water to drink. Thus he made his younger brother wake up again. 

14. Dzo'avits and the Old Woman. 

An old woman was walking along Avitli her grandson. Magna illae 
pudenda. It began to rain and they got wet. They looked for Dzo'avits' 
dwelling and arrived there in the evening. The boy 
laughed. "We have arrived at Dzo'avits' house this ^q ^e^th! 
evening." In the night, Dzo'avits came running home, 
making a noise. The woman had put an iron rope ' into the house. The 
giant asked "What is that in my house? What thick object is growing 
there?" He attempted to pull it out. Then he ran around his visitors. 
He seemed to be freezing. He could not pull out the iron rope. "I am 
freezing to death," he said. He went out and tried to make a fire by rub- 
bing his fire-drill. He was shivering. "What's the matter? I can't get a 
spark." He froze to death and dropped to the ground. 

At sunrise the woman and her grandson arose. They looked at Dzo'avits 
"Dzo'avits is lying dead over there." They saw that Dzo'avits wore a 
great many beads. The woman ordered her grandson to Robbed by 

take off the beads. "Don't be afraid," she said to her woman and 

grandson, "take the best beads." The boy stole the ^^^^ 

beads, and they left. 

Dzo'avits was frozen stiff; but when the sun shone the heat revived him 
and he got up. He looked everv-^vhere for his beads. They were gone. 
His good beads had disappeared. "Who has stolen my Revives, cap- 

beads?" he asked. His sight was not very good. He tures thieves, 
began to track the woman and boy. After a while, he ^^ escape, 

saw their footsteps. After some time, he caught up to them. "Have you 
two stolen my beads?" he asked. "No, not we. We have come from 
the other side; Ave have never seen you before." "Give me my beads," 
said he. "No, we have not seen them." "Give me my beads, or I'll put 
you into my bag." He picked them up and threw them into his bag. Carry- 
ing them on his back, he ran along. He came to a pine-wood and ran under 



This passage is obscure. 



262 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

the trees. His prisoners took hold of the branches and climbed up the trees. 
Thus he lost his captives. When he arrived at his home, he looked into the 
bag. He found it empty and began to cry. The woman and her grandson 
ran home. 

15. Dzo'avits. 

A giant (Dz5'avits) was standing on a mountain and looked down a 
deep canon. As he was looking down, he barked like a dog. When Weasel 
Weasel throws ^^^^^^ ^^^^ noise, he stole up behind the giant with a stick, 
giant over preci- Dzo'avitsi testes pendebant; juvenis eos baculo tutudit. 
^ *'®' The blow hurt the giant; looking around he saw that it 

was his nephew. Weasel, who had played the trick on him. He wished to 
get even with the young man and said, "Look down Avhere I Avas looking. 
There is a mountain-goat down there." When Weasel stooped, the giant 
tried to push him over, but Weasel did not fall in. He rushed behind the 
giant and killed him. 

Once a number of Indians were riding around Dzo'avits' dwelling. The 
giant looked up and turned his head in all directions. The horses shied. 



A great many Dzo'avits used to live in the mountains. They dwelt in 
stone houses and each one had two wives. Only a few 
aii^gilnTs"*"' °' o^ these giants were killed by the Weasels. The others 
were killed by five birds who built a big fire on the moun- 
tains. The Dzo'avits tried to run aAvay; but it got very hot and tlicy were 
burnt to death. Their houses were also consumed by the fire. All of them 
perished. 

16. Coyote and the Rock.^ 



(a) 

Coyote was walking along a river. He came to a large white rock of 

which every one was afraid. In rupem minxit et cacavit. 

rock?""*^ *^"'^' Then he scratched the rock like a dog. He went away. 

After a while he looked back. The rock seemed to move; 



it was rolling after Coyote. 



• Kvoebcr, (a) 260-4. Louisa McDermott, 245-6. Griniiell, 165. 



1909.] Louie, The Northern Shoshone. 263 

Coyote thought, "That rock will never be able to catch me." He ran 
along, making fun of the rock. At first he ran along the slope of a hill. 
The rock followed him. He went down-hill again, and is pursued begs 

this time he was nearly caught. ^Nlingebat, cacabatque for aid, his pro- 

/-. • TT ,1 1 rpi tectors crushed, 

currens Cams. He ran through a narrow gorge, ine 

rock shattered the rocks in its way and continued the chase. Coyote 
crossed a stream. The rock plunged in and followed. Coyote went through 
a wood. The rock made a path for itself by knocking down all the trees. 
Coyote did not know what to do. The rock was just behind him, treading 
on his tail and heels. He saw a Bear digging for wild-carrots. "Aunt," he 
cried, "this rock is going to kill me. Get behind me." Bear stepped be- 
tween them, standing up on her hind-legs. Rock knocked her to pieces. 
Coyote fled until he came to an elk. "This rock is killing me," he cried, 
"get behind me." The Elk got behind him, and raised his antlers against 
the rock; but the rock crushed him and went after Coyote. 

Coyote came to To'sa-ki'yacatsi (White + ?) "Brother," he cried, "the 
rock is killing me." To'sa-ki' yacatsi apparently paid no is rescued slays 
attention to him. He was building a fire. When the rock savior to steal 
approached, he just pushed out his elbow and hit it. The ^ ^^' 
rock was shattered into small pieces. To'sa-ki yacatsi had large beads on 
his elbow, which formed his medicine, and it was this charm that killed the 
rock. Coyote fell to the ground, completely exhausted. After some time 
he arose, walked around the hill and killed To'sa-ki' yacatsi by striking him 
with a stone. He then stole the charm and put it on his arm. 

Coyote now walked up-hill and got ready for a rock that might tumble 
down. A rock began to roll down. As it approached Coyote, he put out 
his elbow and it was split asunder. "This is nothing," ^^.j^^ charm on 
said Coyote. He went up higher and waited for a bigger other rocks, is 
rock to tumble towards him. The rock came down; but 
before Coyote had time to stretch out his elbow, it crushed and killed him. 
Only his tail stuck out from beneath it. 

(b) 

Coyote met Fox and asked him where he got all his beads from. Fox 
said he obtained them from a rock which murmured, 'Kedzo't. "You 
can go there and take some beads; but you must pay the coyote warned 
rock something. If you do not, it will catch you in a against robbing 
trap." Coyote went to the rock, took some beads and 
returned without paying. "You must pay the next time," said Fox, "or 
it will catch you." Coyote went again and again took beads without paying 



264 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

for them. When he came the third time, he thought, "I will never pay," 

and tried to seize some more beads; but the rock caught him in the trap. 

He howled for help. Fox came up and asked, "Friend, what have you been 

doing?" "I have been caught in a trap here." "Did n't I tell you, you 

should pay for the beads ? I do not care to stay here for I might be caught 

myself." Fox went home and told the people what had happened. 

After a time, Coyote got his toes out and ran home. When he looked 

back, he saw that the rock was coming after him. He 

Disobeys, is came to a river and crossed it; but the rock also went 
pursued. ' 

across the stream. He thought, "I am going to climb 
up a hill"; but the rock also climbed the hill. Coyote ran down-hill saying, 
"You can't come down to level ground; you can't jump into the river." 
Coyote jumped in deep; still the rock followed in pursuit. 

At last Coyote saw a Snipe, who was digging roots. Coyote asked her 
Rescued by ^^^ help. She asked Coyote what was the matter and told 

Snipe. Origin him he had done wrong; nevertheless she consented to 
of rocks. ^^jj j^jj^ "Let the rock run over me," she said. The 

rock struck the Snipe; but she shouted, "Bo!" The Rock immediately 
broke up into many little rocks, which were scattered everwhere and are 
now seen in the Rocky Mountains. 

(c) 

Coyote was walking along a trail. He met his uncle Fox. "Uncle, 
Coyote warned "^'^^1'^ did vou get those beads, that gun-sack, and those 
against clashing fine ear-rings?" asked Coyote. "From a large rock 
^°^^' which continually opens and closes, saying 'Kidzo'ta!' 

You must not go there; he will catch you. Keep on walking on your trail." 
Coyote walked straight towards the rock. Fox was watching him. "My 
nephew does not believe what I said. He is going there." 

Coyote approached the rock and heard the noise it was making. "I'll 

go and see it," he thought. He saw the beads, and took 

reieasTbyF^x!'' ^ome. The rock closed and caught him. "Uncle, 

come quickly! The rock has caught me," screamed 

Coyote. Fox returned. Coyote cacabat. Fox said, "Rock, open." 

The rock obeyed and Coyote was liberated. He was tired. 

"Nephew, said Fox, "there is another large round bowlder with plenty 

of beads. You can take everything there, only you must 

^^Abuses another ^^gj^^^g decendy." Coyote went towards the mountains. 

"Where is that big rock my uncle spoke of ? " He followed 

a trail and found the rock. He seized the beads, dressed up handsomely 

and began to dance. "I wish to dance," he said. He took a gun-sack 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 265 

and danced with it. Finally he ceased dancing. In rupeni niinxit, cacavit- 
que. Excrementa canis more in rupem unguibus impressit. He walked 
away saying, "That rock can never track men; it must stand still forever." 
After a while, Coyote looked back and saw the rock moving. He began 
to trot. The rock came up very fast. Coyote thought, "A rock cannot 
run along a slope." So he ran along the hillside, but the rock nearly caught 
up to him. "How can a rock run in a brush?" he asked; but the rock still 
pursued him. Coyote was exhausted. "How can a rock ascend a moun- 
tain-stream?" he asked, but the rock w^as still following pursued" res- 
his footsteps. Coyote was completely worn out. He cued by Night- 
saw a Ku'wi (a bird). "Uncle," he shouted, "stand 
behind me." The bird did as he Avas bidden; but the rock ran over and 
killed it. Coyote saw a Crane. "Uncle," he yelled, "get behind me." 
The Crane tried to shield him; but was run over and killed. Coyote caca- 
bat. A rattlesnake was lying in his path. "Uncle, help me," shouted 
Coyote. The rattlesnake got between him and the rock, and hissed at it; 
but was crushed to pieces. The rock was now very close. Coyote saw 
the Night-hawk (Whippoorwill ?) "Uncle Night-hawk, get behind me!" 
When the rock came up, the Night-hawk screamed, "Bo!" and the rock 
broke up. Coyote was lying panting on the ground. Nighthawk said, 
"Rocks are not powerful. As soon as you say " Bo, " they burst up." Coyote 
then walked up a hill; but before he had time to say "Bo," a rock tumbled 
down and crushed him. 

17. The Bungling Host.* 

Coyote was living there. "I am going to eat at my brother-in-law 
Owl's lodge to-morrow," he said. The next morning he 
went to the Owl. Owl took his awl and stuck it in his ^^ imitate ov^. * 
eyes so that the grease trickled down into a willow basket. 
He gave the grease and some of his own flesh to Coyote. Coyote ate and 
went home. "To-morrow," said the Owl, "I shall eat with my brother- 
in-law Coyote." Owl went to Coyote. Coyote took his awl, stuck it in 
his eyes, and allowed the grease to drip into a willow basket. He also cut 
some flesh from his breast and gave it to Owl. Owl did not like it. "I 
have had plenty to eat already," he said, "I don't care to eat now." 

"To-morrow," said Coyote, "I shall eat with my brother-in-law, Wido'tc 
(a bird)." He came to Wido'tc's wikiup. AVido'tc took coyote and 

his arrows and stood outside. He told the birds to come Widotc. 

nearer. He killed many of them, cooked them and gave the food to Coyote. 

1 Cf. Teit. 40-2. Matthews, (b) 87-8. Schoolcraft, (b) 43-7. Kroeber, (a) 264-8. 



266 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural Histori/. [\'ol. II, 

Coyote ate; when he was through eating, he went away. Wido'tc said, 
"To-morrow, I am going to eat with my brother-in-law Coyote." He 
arrived at Coyote's lodge. Coyote took his arrows; he went outside near 
the willows. He tried to lure the birds, saying, "Widut! Widut! Widut!" 
Only a few perched on the willows. He killed them and cooked them. 
He gave the food to \Yido'tc. Wido'tc ate it.^ 

"To-morrow, I am going to my brother-in-law Jack-rabbit," said Coyote. 

He got there. Jack-rabbit went out. He gathered plenty 
Jack^rabbfr '^^ deadwood. For a long time, he sat down. He made a 

fire, cooked a brown rabbit, and gave it to Coyote. Coyote 

ate, and went home. Jack-rabbit said, "To-morrow, I am going to my 

brother-in-law Coyote's to eat." Coyote went out and brought in dead 

wood; but put nothing in the fire to cook for his guest. ^ 

"To-morrow, I am going to eat with my brother-in-law Beaver," said 

Coyote. He got there. Beaver took a stick and killed 
Beaver ^ ^^ ^^'^^ SOUS. He cooked them and gave them to Coyote. 

When Coyote Avas through eating, he went home. At 
nightfall, he threw the bones of Beavei-'s sons into the water. "To-morrow," 
said Beaver, "I shall eat with my brother-in-law Coyote." He got there and 
sat down. Coyote took a stick, killed his sons, cooked them and gave them 
to Beaver. Beaver did not like the food. "I have had plenty to eat this 
morning," he said, "I will not eat anything now." 

Coyote said, "I am going to eat with my brother-in-law. Otter." He 
got there. Otter dived deep into the water, and got out some fresh salmon 

which he boiled and gave to Coyote. Coyote went home. 
otter^° ^ *" "To-morrow I shall go to my brother-in-law Coyote," 

said Otter. He got there. Coyote gave him some stale 
salmon. Otter did not eat them. 

"To-morrow, I am going to eat with my brother-in-law Deer," said 
Coyote. He went there. Deer took his arrows. He shot one up into the 

air so as to hit him.self. Then he took out his own fat 
Deer^° ^ *° ^^^ flesh, cooked it, and gave it to Coyote. Deer said, 

"To-morrow I am going to eat with my brother-in-law 
Coyote." He arrived there. Coyote took his arrows, shot himself, cooked 
his flesh and offered it to Deer. Deer did not like it. "I have eaten plenty 
this morning," he said, " I don't wish to eat now." 

Coyote wished to eat all of Deer's flesh. He wanted to kill him. There 

was a dance going on. Unseen, Coyote stuck an arrow 
D^^r.^"*^ ^'"' into Deer and killed him. Then he advised Deer's rela- 
tives to throw the corpse into the water. Coyote and his 
son watched for the floating body. They seized it and ate it up. 
> This is manifestly inconsistent with the rest of the story. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 267 

IS. Porcupine and Coyote.^ 

Porcupine was ^valking along. He was trying to track buffalo. He 
saw some fresh excrements and followed the trail until he arrived at the 
bank of a stream. The buffalo were seated on the other Porcupine 
side. Porcupine shouted across, "Carry me over the crawls into Buf- 
water." One of the buffaloes inquired whether Porcu- ^ ° ^ paunc 
pine meant him. "No, I mean another one." Again he shouted, "Carry 
me across the water." "I?" asked another buffalo. "No," replied Por- 
cupine, "I am looking for another one." (This dialogue is repeated several 
times.) At last a very fat buffalo asked whether Porcupine meant him, and 
Porcupine quickly answered, "Yes, yes, yes." The buffalo crossed the 
stream. "Get on my back," he said. "No, I am afraid, you might shake 
me off." "Well, sit on my horns." "No, you might throw me into the 
water." "Get into my nostrils." "No, you might sneeze, and I Avould 
fall into the river." "Well, crawl into my rectum." "That is well," said 
Porcupine, "when you come to some good grass you may defecate and drop 
me there." He crawled into the buffalo's rectum. 

The buffalo started across the stream. When he got to the other side, 
he looked about for some good grass. Then he defecated j^^jjg buflaio 

and dropped the Porcupine to the ground. For a short seeks knife to 
time he stood still, then jumped up and fell dead. Porcu- 
pine had killed him while he was inside. "With what," asked Porcupine, 
"shall I skin my buffalo?" Coyote heard what he was saying, and ap- 
proached him. "What is it you want, Uncle?" "Oh, I was just saying, 
'What am I going to cut my willows with?'" "No," said Coyote, "you 
were saying something else. I heard it. You said, 'What shall I cut my 
buffalo with ? ' " "Well, I have killed this buffalo right here." 

Coyote offered to help him skin it. Then he said, "Uncle, whoever 
outjumps the other, will skin him." Porcupine agreed. Then Coyote 
jumjjed first; but he only landed on the middle of the Loses buffalo 
buffalo skin. Porcupine leapt clear across, and claimed in jumping con- 
the victory. "No," said Coyote, "the one who wins in ^^ ^ °^° *' 
the second trial, shall be the winner." This time Coyote jumped far across, 
while Porcupine only reached the middle. So Coyote won and skinned the 
animal. As he was cutting out the guts, he called Porcu- ^.^^.g ^.j^^ meat, 
pine and said, "Uncle, go, wash the breasts, but don't eat is killed by Coy- 
anything." Porcupine went to the stream with the flesh. 
There he washed it, began singing and ate it up. When he was through, 

1 Cf. Kroeber, (a) 270-2. Dixon, (b) 83. George A. Dorsey, (b) 271. Gushing, 243. 
Spinden, 21, and footnote. 



268 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History, [^'ol. II, 

he returned to Coyote. "What is the matter, Uncle? You have eaten it 
up." "No," repHcd Porcupine, "while I was standing there, a water- 
bug asked me to let him have some and I gave it to him." "Well, I'll 
go and ask him," said Coyote. He walked to the stream and asked the 
water-bug. The water-bug said, "No, I asked him for some; but Porcu- 
pine did not give me any." Coyote was furious. When he came back, 
he seized a stick, struck Porcupine with it and killed him. Then he dug a 
hole in the ground, put all his buffalo meat inside and covered it up. He 
threw the Porcupine's body aside et in eins corpus cacavit. Coyote walked 
homewards. As soon as he had left. Porcupine arose. 

evives, c im s Q\^yQ^^ ^r^^^y j-jjj^ ,^j^j struck him with his stick. Then he 
tree with meat. 

walked homewards again. When he had turned his 

back, Porcupine arose; but Coyote's excrements shouted after Coyote, telling 

him to return. Coyote came back and again killed Porcupine with his 

stick. Iterum in eius corpus cacavit. Nevertheless, when Coyote had 

left, Porcupine again got up. The excrements summoned Coyote; but he 

had gone too far and could not hear them. Porcupine dug up all of Coyote's 

meat. He went to a pine-tree. "Pine-tree, grow!" The pine-tree grew 

up higher. Then Porcupine leapt on the tree with his meat. 

The next morning. Coyote returned to fetch his meat. He did not find 

anything in the hole. His children, one boy and two girls, came running 

Drops buffalo ^l^ng. Suddenly Coyote looked up the pine-tree and 

kiUing Coyote detected Porcupine far up. "Give me my meat," he 

and children. shouted. Porcupine threw half the buffalo down; but in 

such a way as to kill all the Coyotes except the little boy. Then he climbed 

down and took the boy with him. He boiled his buffalo-meat and gave 

some to the boy. The boy ate it very quickly. When he was through 

eating, he asked Porcupine, "Where can I ease myself?" "Right there," 

said Porcupine. While he was easing himself, Porcupine shook him. 

The boy burst up. Thus Porcupine killed the Coyote family. 

19. Skunk. 



Eagle was Skunk's younger brother. Eagle was hunting all day. He 
killed some elk and deer. While he was away, ten Frog-women came to 
Eagle's women ^^^ lodge to marry Skunk; there also came five Rabbit- 
intercepted by women who wanted Eagle for a husband. Skunk kept 
Skunk. ^j^^ Rabbits for himself and put the Frogs under Eagle's 

bed. At night Eagle returned, bringing some deer. He asked Skunk to 
cook the meat. After preparing the food. Skunk gave all of it to the Rabbits. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 269 

Eagle asked, "What have you done with all the food?" "I have eat^n it 
all because I was very hungry." When it got dark, they went to bed. Sud- 
denly Skunk laughed. Eagle asked, "What are you laughing at?" He 
said, "Nothing, a mouse was running over my face," The Frogs woke up 
the Eagle. They said, "Those Rabbit-women are yours; they came to 
marry you. We are his wives." The Eagle gave them some food and the 
Frogs left. 

The next morning, Eagle bade Skunk prepare some food. Then Eagle 
proposed that they should get some game he had killed. Skunk did not 
believe he had killed any; but at last he agreed to go. They found some 
elk. Eagle said, "I forgot my gun; I'll go home to get ^^^j^ ^^^^ 

it." Skunk wanted to get it for him; but Eagle said, them and flees 
"No, you can't run as fast as I." Then Eagle returned 
and found his wives under Skunk's bed. He went away with the five women 
and sat down on the top of a high rock. 

Skunk ran home. He did not find his wives there. He decided to kill 
Eagle. He looked for him ever}"\vhere and got very 
tired. He lay down in the shade. He was thirsty and suit" loses^ anus' 
walked to a brook. As he looked into the water, he thought 
he saw the Eagle and the women there; so he squirted his filth at them, 
blowing away the water. But it was only the reflection of the fugitives in 
the water. At last, he beheld them on the rock. He asked Eagle to give 
him the youngest woman. Eagle answered, "No, she is my best wife." 
Skunk said, "Well, brother, give me any one of them." Eagle refused. 
Then Skunk asked, "How did you climb up there? Is there any way to 
climb to that rock?" Eagle replied, "I climbed up with my head down and 
my feet up." As the Skunk began to climb, Eagle thought he might knock 
off his anus. He hit it with a red-hot rock. Skunk fell into the water 
and his anus floated away. 

Skunk got out alive, but he could not find his anus. He looked for it 
down the river. He asked a woman who lived there, 
"Have you seen my anus?" He went down and asked covers it 
all the people who lived on the banks of the river. One 
woman said, "Some Indians are keeping your anus over by the mountain." 
He walked in that direction and met a meadow-lark. Skunk asked him, 
"Where is my anus?" The bird answered, "An orphan-boy is playing 
with it continually. When he does not ])lay with it, he always cries; as 
soon as he gets it, he is satisfied." Skunk went on until he saw the child 
playing with his anus. The boy was throwing it in the air and it looked like 
a fire in the night. Skunk watched very closely, seized the anus, and fled. 
The child cried and the Indians searched for the anus, but failed to find it. 



270 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Nahiral History. [Vol. II, 

Skunk now turned back. He met many Indians, and killed them all 
with his filth. Then he robbed them of their heads and their other orna- 
ments. He walked on and met other Indians, whom he killed and robbed 
in the same way. When he came to the next village, a 

Jo oils^ Jr^f'i™'. wolf recognized him. Five wolves watched him when he 
IS slain by wolves. ^ 

got there. He sat down. They saAV the beads that he 
had stolen from the dead Indians and decided to punish him. They walked 
up behind him and stepped on his tail. Skunk said, "Let me alone, breth- 
ren." One Wolf said, "Let us kill him." They seized his tail and toes. 
He cried, "Let me loose and let us fight. This is a woman's way of acting; 
a man would not kill another like this." But they paid no attention to 
what he said and killed him. 



20. Skunk and Coyote. 

Long ago Skunk's odor was very powerful and could kill a passer-by. 

Skunk had killed all the Indians and was going to Coyote. Coyote was 

standing on a hill, making arrows. Skunk and Coyote 

>, ^r^°^*. ^'^^**'* told stories to each other; then Co vote said he would 
ay Coyote. ' 

run home first and Skunk should follow later. Then 
everything would be jirepared for his reception. 

When Coyote got home, he poured melted pitch on his blanket and 

Coyote kills turned the hairy side up to deceive his visitor. When 
guest, cuts off Skunk had entered and was about to sit down, Coyote 
^^^^- turned the pitched side up so that Skunk stuck fast to the 

blanket. Coyote pushed him about until his anus was completely filled 
with pitch. Skunk said he would go out to ease himself. He tried to squirt 
out his excrements, but did not succeed. He tried very hard. Then Coyote 
came out with a club and killed him. He cut off the Skunk's anus and gave 
it to the Indians. 

All the Indians made spears. They began to play with Skunk's anus, 

Indians spear throwing it into a creek and spearing it. They riddled it 
anus. Skunk re- with holes. Skunk woke up again. He started after 
covers it. ^j^^ Indians. When he had traveled many days, he arrived 

at the bank Avhere the Indians were playing. He joined them and com- 
menced to si)ear his own anus. He dug two holes in the ground, one straight 
down, the other in a crooked line. The Indians could only see the hole that 
went straight down. Skunk descended through the other hole and re-cap- 
tured his anus. The Indians tried to catch him by ]ioking down the straight 
opening; but failed to touch him. Skunk shouted uj) that he was very 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 271 

far away. Then they said, "He is too far down, we can't get him," and let 

him go. 

After some time had ehipsed, Skunk came up begging for an awl and 

sinew to sew his anus together. He mended it in the 

. Anus mended. 

sunshine. When some birds perched on a tree above him, 

he tried his power on them by squirting up his excrement. It did not work 

well. He was only able to kill a single one. This is how Skunk came to 

lose the power he used to have. 

21. Skunk and the Mouxtain-Lion. 

Skunk found a dead mountain-lion. "What is the matter?" he asked. 
" Is he really dead ? He cannot be dead very long." Skunk stood up straight. 
"I am not afraid," he said. "Not even a great number of enemies can hurt 
me. Fire cannot kill me and water cannot kill me. The only thing I am 
afraid of is whistling." Skunk took ISIountain-Lion on his back, where 
he also carried his arrows in a quiver. Suddenly Mountain-Lion began to 
whistle. Skunk was badly frightened, threw him off and ran away. ^Nloun- 
tain-Lion went to lie down on a rock; Skunk fled to the Mountain-Lion 
brush and began to sing. After a while, he came out. plays trick on 
"That scoundrel, Mountain-Lion, has broken my quiver." 
he said. He was furious and went to track his enemy. i\Iountain-Lion 
saw him coming from the top of his rock. Skunk shot at him again and 
again, but missed him every time. . Then Mountain-Lion proposed that 
they should tell stories to each other. They got good wood and built a fire. 
In the morning, INIountain-Lion told Skunk to get up so they could tell 
stories to each other. INIountain-Lion caught up the firewood, put it in 
a bag and went away. Skunk woke up, seized his arrows and shot at 
Mountain-Lion, but failed to hit him. 



22. The Bull-Frog and the Elk. 

A Bull-Frog once carried away Elk- woman's son. She brought him uj) 
for a year as her own son.. In the spring, when the grass was getting green, 
she made arrows for her foster-child. "^ly boy, take these arrows, and go 
out hunting." The Elk-boy went away and noticed a 
hrto (a bird). He aimed at it and shot repeatedly, but eik.'^ei^k esctpes^ 
missed every time. Hl'to approached him and said, 
"That Frog-woman has only stolen you. Your real mother lives in the 



OTO 



Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. 11, 



mountains. Go to her." The Bull-Frog was looking for the little Elk. 
"Come here, my boy. Suckle my breasts." Hi'to said, "Don't listen to 
her. Go to the mountains. Your mother lives in the mountains." The 
boy ran aAvay with the bird. Frog-woman gave chase, but soon got tired 
and returned home. 

Hi'to stopped on the way and told the little Elk to proceed. "You will 

see some fine spring-water on your way, but don't drink it. Go straight 

Elk drinks of ^'P ^^^^ mountains and find your mother." The Elk went 

forbidden spring, on alone. He came to the spring. "I'll take a good 

drink," he thought. When he had drunk, all his teeth 

fell out with the exception of the two big teeth which may be seen to-day. 

23. Coyote Tales. 

(a) 

Coyote met Fox, who was eating yampas. "Uncle, what are you doing ? " 
asked Coyote. "I am pulling up yampas with my tail. When I w^ant to 
jDull up a great many, I put my tail deep in the ground." "Well, I'll try 
Coyote pulled this," thought Coyote. He went to a place where the 
underground by yampas were growing. He put his tail in, pulled out 
yampas and ate them. He went along. He wanted to 
eat yampas again and put in his tail very deep. This time he could not 
pull it out. "Wai, wai, Avai," he shouted, "Uncle!" Coyote went down 
until he was completely underground. The yampas pulled him in. 

Fox was eating roots. "How do you get roots from the ground?" 
Coyote asked him. "I stick my tail in." "Show me how you do it." Fox 
showed him and said, "You must not put it in too deep, or you will never 
get it out again." Coyote put in his tail; but it was too deep in the ground, 
and he could not get it out. He cried, "Wai, wai, wai." Fox asked what 
was the matter. He let Coyote dig away for several years; finally he 
helped him out. Then Fox went westward. When he was gone. Coyote 
got his tail into the ground again and was killed. ' 

(c) 

Coyote was living in a grass-lodge with two young women. One day one 
of them asked him why he did not go out to hunt buffalo. He agreed to go 



1909.J Lowie, The Northern Shos/wne. 273 

and asked them to hand him his bow and arrows. The girls promised to 
tan the hides. Coyote pursued a buffalo herd, but was only able to kill 
one miserable buffalo. The women went away to skin it. coyote blind of 
"Well, Coyote," they said, "you have killed a fine one!" one eye, aban- 
"I could not kill any more," said he, "because ray feet ^"""^^ ^^ ^^'■^'• 
were sore." When they got back to the camp, Coyote asked his wives to 
make buckskin shirts for him. One of the women noticed that Coyote used 
only one eye. Wlien he slept in the day-time, he covered one eye with a 
wcaselskin. The girl removed the skin and saw maggots coming out of 
the eye. Both the women ran away. When Coyote woke up and saw that 
his wives were gone, he went in pursuit of them. He found them standing 
on a cliff; but as he was climbing up, they shook their bells. Coyote fell 
down and was killed. After a while, they looked down. "What are you 
doing down there?" "I am just eating the marrow of a mountain-lion. 
Join me." But the women said, "You blind old beast, we have had enough 
of you." 

(d) 

Wolf asked Coyote whether he was still in the habit of winning every 

game he played. Coyote answered that he was. Wolf then asked him to 

play ball against some Indians. "How much shall I bet on your winning ?" 

"Stake everything you have; we two shall surely win." Coyote was soon 

tired out and lost. "What is the matter? why can't you run?" Wolf 

asked him. "I am tired," said Coyote. They lost the 

IT' 11' • 1 ux 1 1 • Loses games 

game. VVoli said, L,et us have an arrow-shooting game. through biind- 

You must play as well as possible, for I am betting all I ^®^^' cured by 
1 » » • ^1 1 1TT1 TTT ,p 111 Wolf, wins, 

have. Again Coyote lost. When VVoli asked what 

made him lose, he said he had worked too much and was worn out. Then 

Wolf made him play the game of arrow-throwing, but Coyote was beaten 

again. "The trouble must be that he can't see," thought Wolf. Wlien 

Coyote was asleep, Wolf took off the weaselskin covering his eyes, and saw 

the maggots crawling in there. "That's why he can't see," he said. Wolf 

made little arrows and killed all the maggots. Then he went off and killed 

a mountain-sheep. When he came back, he inserted the mountain-sheep's 

eyes in place of Coyote's sore eye. Now, they played the games over again 

and wagered all their property. They won every time, because Coyote had 

good eyes now. 

Coyote was walking along the hills. In the evening, he met two women 
who were gathering seeds. Coyote assumed the appearance of a woman. 



274 Anthropological Papers American Mtiseiwi of A'atural History. [Vol. II, 

In the night, they all slept together. Nocte Canis assidue copulavit. At 
Disguised as a ^awn Coyote left. When the sun rose, the women got up. 
woman, sleeps "Where is Coyote gone?" they asked each other. They 
w women. washed their faces and ate some food, then they continued 

their journey. As they were walking along, they did not know what made 
them feel so queer. Gravidae erant. Coyote had made them conceive. 
On that day each gave birth to a child. 

(I) 

In the fall. Coyote and Wolf v.ere chiefs. Wolf asked all the Indians 
to meet in a council. They were to decide how many spring months there 
should be. Coyote declared that spring should last ten months. A little 
bird (To'tsegwe) said, "Let there be three spring months." All the Indians 
shouted, "Yes, three months will be long enough." To'tsegwe went outside. 
Coyote was furious, because the Indians decided against him. He seized 
Duration of ^ stick and attempted to kill the bird, but missed him. 
spring deter- As he pursued To'tsegwe, Rattlesnake, who was To'tse- 

^^^^ • gwe's friend, came out from a hole and began to hiss. 

Co}"ote was badly frightened and fled back to Wolf's camp. 

(9) 

The ground-hogs were running down the mountains. Fox watched them 

as he was lying down. They ran towards him, and he killed two of them. 

While he Avas cooking the ground-hogs, Coyote came up and proposed a 

race. "Let us run a race around the mountains, with stones tied to our 

feet. The one who arrives first shall eat all of the food." 
Coyote outrun. ^ i i • i i i • p i i 

tox agreed, they tied the stones to their leet and began to 

run. Fox arrived first and won. He ate up all his food and did not give 

any to Coyote.^ 

(h) 

An old woman Avas living with her grandson. They used to catch buffalo 

in a hole. All that time Eagle was chief of the Indians. 
Poor Boy wins ^t i i i i i • i • c i 

Chiefs daughter, He had two daughters and })roinised to give one or them 

robbed by Coyote, j^ marriage to any one who would kill a fox.^ The old 

woman's grandson killed the fox and all the people were 

saying, "The poor boy has killed it." Eagle took him to his house, where 

> Cf. Wissler and Duvall, 28. 
2 Dorsey and Kroeher, 348, 372. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 275 

he slept with the chief's older daughter. Nocte in lectum minxit et uxor 
eum expulit. He cried and went far away. He found a blanket and 
put it on. Then he found red paint and painted his face with it. He 
found beads. At the same time, he Avas growing continually bigger and 
bigger. He found an otter-skin and put it on like a sash. Then he returned 
to the camp and married Eagle's younger daughter. Crow now married 
the other girl; his beak hung down her shoulder in the night. The boy 
always carried a bird on his head. Once his grandmother sent him to the 
buffalo-hole. He met Coyote there and made friends with him. Coyote 
let him down into the hole. He asked the boy for his blanket and the boy 
gave it to him. Then Coyote asked him for all his clothes and weapons, 
one by one, and the boy gave him everything. Coyote went to Eagle's 
family and married the boy's wife. Coyote was now carrying the boy's 
bird on his head; but the bird was always crying. The boy's grandmother 
went to the hole and helped him out. The boy went to his wife's lodge and 
sat down outside the entrance. When his bird saw him, it cried out and, 
leaving Coyote's head, flew to the poor boy's. Coyote was obliged to give 
back everything he had taken away from the boy. 

Coyote was passing along the bank of a river. He noticed a dam pre- 
venting the salmon from going through the stream. 

^ , 1 • 1 < Coyote dis- 

"How can I remove the dam? ' he thought to himselt. guised as baby, 

He made a boat and wished he would become a baby.'^ adopted by wom- 

1 1 1 • • 1 en; fries salmon. 

Straightway he changed mto a baby, lying in a boat near 

the dam. Coyote began to cry. Five women heard the noise. "Some 

Indians must have been drowned," they said, "there is a baby floating on 

the water." They swam over to Coyote. They agreed that the one who 

got there first was to keep the baby and bring him up. The oldest one beat 

the others and henceforth nursed Coyote when he cried. A^^lenever the 

women went out to dig roots, they left Coyote home. One day, while they 

were gone, he made five pointed sticks and tried to dig out the dam. Four 

of the sticks broke, but with the fifth - he succeeded. AYhen the women 

returned and saw what he had done, they wliipped him. In the night the 

boy went away. When he arrived at the river bank, he was very hungry. 

He said to the salmon, "I took the dam out for you; come over to me." 

One of the salmon swam towards him and Coyote killed it. Then he made 

a fire and cooked it. As he sat by the fire, he fell asleep. 

1 Spinden, 15. Goddard, 125. Also found by Mr. Sapir among the Wishram. 

2 The occurrence of five as the mystic number is noteworthy. Vid. Spinden, 13. 



276 Anthropological Papers American Mitaeum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

While Coyote was sleeping, five wolves appeared, ate up his salmon, 
Nose pulled by ^l^'^^r^^d his nose to its present shape and went away. 
Wolves; retail- When Coyote awoke, he found that his salmon were gone. 
He was thirsty and went to the water. He saw his re- 
fleetion and was so terrified by the appearance of his nose that he could 
not drink at all. He defecated and asked his excrements what had hap- 
pened. The excrements answered. "The Wolves are to ])lanie for it. 
They changed your nose and ate up your food." Coyote tracked the 
Wolves, whom he found sleeping with ducks' eggs before them. Then 
he raised their noses, changed them to their present form and walked off 
laughing. He watched them from a hill-top. When the Wolves woke up, 
they looked at each other and laughed. Coyote also laughed at them and 
went away. 

Coyote came to a tent. He looked inside and saw a girl, who was the 

chief's daughter. She was very sick because she had stepped on an elk- 

r.,„<.o ,„^ »,,o, horn. Coyote went in and spoke to her. She told him 
Cures ana mar- ►' i 

Ties chief 's daugh- how the Indians had left her alone when they broke camp. 
^^^' Coyote made medicine and cured her. When she was 

well, they married. After a while, they caught up with the girl's tribe and 
journeyed with them. One evening Coyote proposed a dance. In the 
night, they began to dance. While Coyote was dancing another Inchan 
stole his wife. Coyote did not find out until morning, when some of the 
people told him. He said, "This is what we shall do hereafter; we will 
steal one another's wives." This is why the Indians steal one another's 
wives now. 

(i) 

Coyote was walking along and met an old bufl'alo. He made fun of 

him and urinated on him, then he walked over the hills. When he turned 

back, he saw the buffalo pursuing him. Coyote laughed. 

ohT?,.^«J1' *° "Vou can never catch me," he cried. The buffalo con- 
abused buffalo. 

tinned running after him and after a while Coyote was 
tired out, so that he was nearly caught. Coyote ran around a large rock, 
took out his pipe and said, "Let me alone, let us smoke." He lit his pipe 
and put it in Buffalo's mouth. In this way, they became friends. I'hey 
sat down and smoked. Buffalo said, "Some one stole my wives. That is 
why you found me sitting there. Then you came and urinated on me. 
The others have scratched me all over my body." Coyote said, "I shall 
give you horns," and he made horns for him as well as he could. Then they 
tracked Buffalo's enemies. \Mien they got close to them, Coyote sat down 
on a hill, while Buffalo went to the Indians. He fought them and tore open 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Slioshone. 277 

their stomachs. He killed them all and recovered his wives. Then Buffalo 
said to Coyote, "What am I going to give you for these horns ? I will give 
you one of my wives." Coyote went away with the woman, but when he 
got hungry he killed and ate her. He walked along and met a bear. The 
Bear pursued Coyote. Coyote ran crying, "You can never catch me." 
After a while, Coyote was tired and the Bear nearly caught up. Coyote 
ran behind a big rock, where he saw buffalo horns. He put them on his 
head and now he pursued the Bear.'^ 

(k) 

Coyote said, "Let us go against our enemies." His party started out 
and arrived at an Indian village, of which Eagle was chief. Coyote proposed 
a water- game and the chief agreed. Beaver was to dive for Coyote and 
Duck for Eagle. The one who could remain under water coyote's corn- 

longer than the other was to win. In the middle of the panions defeat 
water, there was a boat which had sprung a leak. Coyote os s a games, 
put his nose in the hole. All the people watched the divers. After a long 
time Duck's stomach burst and Beaver won. Then they had a wrestling 
match. Eagle's side was represented by Mole- woman. Weasel was to 
wrestle for Coyote. Weasel threw Mole-woman and her stomach burst. 
Coyote's party won. Eagle proposed another game. The people made 
bread and cooked all kinds of food. Coyote said, "Let Rat play for us." 
Eagle had Floating-ice to play for him. Both commenced to eat. Ice's 
stomach burst and Rat won. Next they were going to have a race. Diibii'- 
simuk (a little bird) was to run against Coyote himself. They ran to the 
other side of the mountains and back again. Coyote got back first and 
won. He had won every game. He went home.^ 

Some time after this, Coyote went away again with Fox. ^Vlien they 
arrived at another \illage, they built a fire. The people coyote and Fox 
asked them what they came for. They answered, "Let lose race, are 
us run a race. Whoever loses, shall lose his head." The 
people agreed to run the next day. Magpie raced against Coyote. They 
ran to the other side of the mountains. Magpie was far ahead. When 
Coyote arrived at the goal, the Indians said, "Now we shall cut your head 
off." Coyote said, "No, wait till we have swum." They did not listen to 
him. They had already cut off Fox's head. Now they seized Coyote and 
killed him in the same way. Thus they killed both. 



1 Cf. Boiis, (b) 6. The last incident occurs as a separate tale in Cree and .\ssiniboine 
mythology. Cf. Wissler and Duvall, 32. 

2 Farrand, 102. Also found by Mr. Sapir among the Wishrara. 



278 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

(0 

Below Teton Basin, an old woman was sitting with a willow basket, 
which was filled with water and salmon. One night Coyote came to her. 
He took some sage-brush and made the Andavits (Indians hostile to the 

Shoshone) out of it. Then he told them that he wanted 
salmon* ' ^'^ ^^ ^*^ ^^^^ with the old woman that night; the next morning 

they might come after him. Coyote slept there. In the 
morning the Andavits arrived. Coyote got up, upset the old woman's 
willow basket with his foot and thus liberated the salmon. The water 
flowed down with the fish to fill the bed of the salmon-stream. Below Ross 
Fork, Coyote put up two large rocks, so that the fish could not descend any 
further. He was tired from running after them and sat down. Then he 
told them that they must come up the stream every spring. 

(?n) 

An old woman was sitting with a willow basket filled with salmon. 
Coyote came to her tent. She boiled one fish for Coyote. Coyote ate it 
and liked its taste very much. ^Vhen he had finished eating, he stepped on 
the edge of the basket so that the salmon fell out and began to float down to 
Ross Fork Creek. Coyote ran along the bank till he got to a waterfall. 
There he made a dam to stop the fish, but the water broke the dam. Coyote 
ran down further and made another. Then he said to the salmon, "Every 
spring you must go up the mountains and spawn." That is why the salmon 
come up here every spring. 

in) 

Coyote was walking along. A white trickster was riding about on horse- 
back and rode over Coyote, who transformed himself into an Indian. The 
White man told him he was looking for Coyote, the Indian trickster; he had 
heard that Coyote was near-by. Coyote said he had seen him {i. e. himself) 

on the other side of the hill. "Let me have your horse 
trickst^e^r ^ '^"*^^ ^ ^^'" bring him to you immediately." The White 

man agreed. Coyote rode away, but returned after a short 
while. He said the horse had refused to go on, because it did not see the 
shadow of the White man's gun. The White man gave Coyote his gim 
and Coyote departed. After a while, he came back, saying the horse had 
turned around, because it was used to seeing the White man's hat. The 
White man gave Coyote his hat and Coyote rode away. He came back 
once more, because the horse was used to feeling the weight of the AVhite 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Slioshone. 279 

man's coat. Then the White man gave Coyote all he had; he was stark 
naked now. Coyote kicked up the horse and said, "You wanted to fool 
nie, but I have fooled you, the White trickster." The White trickster 
began to cry. 

(o) 

Coyote had a brown race-horse, which he had made out of a jack-ral)l)it. 
He rode off to another tribe. Here he saw the Whites g^^^ horse 
beating the Indians in a horse-race. Coyote joined and which turns into 
defeated the best of the white horsemen. Then he ex- ^^ ^ ' 
changed horses with the White man, who tied Coyote's horse to one of his 
own. During the night, the White man lay awake, thinking of his new horse. 
Before sunrise he got up to look at it. He saw only one horse where he had 
left two. When he got closer, he saw that his old horse was tied to a 
jack-rabbit. 

Coyote killed the horse obtained by trading with the White man, ate it 
and continued to walk along. He was carrying a bundle on his back. 
The White trickster met him and asked whether he had any moccasins to 
sell. • Coyote answered he had, but they were only intended 
for the use of persons with whom he had intercourse. trickster 

Ablatis vestimentis, corpore flexo, Canis in eius anum 
subulam inseruit. The blood began to flow and the White man was killed. 
Such is the wav of Coyote. 

(?) 

Long ago, when all the Indians lived together, they frequently had horse- 
races and always defeated the other side. Coyote once transformed a red- 
willow stick into a pinto horse, on which he rode to one of the race-grounds. 
He approached the losing side. At last one of them said, "Why don't 
we try our friend Coyote's horse?" Coyote consented. ggjjg horse 
They wagered blankets on the success of the horse. Coy- which turns into 
ote exhorted the rider to whip it only with his left hand. ^^ °^"^ ^"^ 
The pinto horse won the race. Then one of Coyote's opponents bought 
the horse and rode home. There he picketed it outside his wikiup. At 
first he heard the horse pawing the ground. Later, towards morning, 
he heard no noise at all. He went outside, the horse was gone. He merely 
saw a willow stick with a rope tied around it. 

iq) 

Coyote and his brother-in-law. Porcupine, went out hunting. Porcu- 
pine said, "Let us go against the enemy." The enemy caught him, bound 



280 Anthropological Papers American Miise-um of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

him and played roughly with Porcupine all day and all night. In the morn- 
ing Porcupine said, "I have to go outside." So they allowed him to go 

outside. Porcupine then used his quills as arrows and 
Goes to war . . 

with Porcupine, shot the enemies with them. He scalped them, tied their 

steals Porcupine's heads to a long pine-branch and marched home. People 
scalps. '^ ^ . / 

could see the scalps from the other side of the mountains. 

Coyote noticed them, stole the scalps on the stick and took them to his own 

home. There his boys and girls began to dance around the pole. (There 

follows the story of "Coyote and his Daughters".) 



24. Lodge-Boy and Throa\tv-Aw ay.^ 
(Ka'taxantandza'uwuhe and Pa'garutandza'uwuhe.) 

(a) 

Long ago a man and his Avife were living in a grass-lodge. The man 
always went hunting with his bow and arrows. One morning the Sun 

informed him in a dream that a visitor would come to 
throws away them, and told him how to treat his guest. The man told 

twins from dead j^jg ^-Jfe^ who was pregnant at the time. "Whenever he 
mother's body. i i i • i i p i 

comes, do not touch the ground with the rood you give 

him. Place it on his chest, when he lies down on his back." While the 

man was out hunting, the visitor arrived. The woman prepared food for 

him and set it on the ground. He did not touch it. Then she put it on 

his legs; still he would not taste it. Finally, she put it on his chest and he 

ate it all up. When he was through eating, the woman fell down dead. 

The visitor rubbed her body and took out two boys from her womb. He 

threw one of them into the water (Pa'garutandza'uwuhe = the one who 

has been thrown into the Avater), the other one he threw into the entrance of 

the wikiup (Ka'taxantandza'uwuhe = the one who was thrown into the 

entrance of a wikiup). Then he went away. 

The Indian did not know what had happened when he came home and 

found his wife dead and her womb emptied. He ])repared some food. 

Suddenly some one cried, "Give me some food, father." He looked around, 

but could not see any one. Three times the baby bobbed 
Water-boy .... i i i i i ^ 

scratches broth- up, crying in this way; but the hunter could not see it, 

er's face, is cap- jjccause it disappeared below the grass. The fourth time 

he saw its face and body. It went down once more and, 

when it rc-appeared, was already a young man. His father asked, "Why 

I Lowie, 141. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 281 

don't you get up and eat?" The boy ate. The next morning the man 
made a willow hoop and gave it to his son to play with. "Don't roll it 
southwards," he warned him. When he returned in the evening, he found 
the boy's face badly scratched. "Who did that?" asked the hunter. The 
boy told him it was his brother, Pa'garutandza'uwuhe, that had scratched 
his face. The next day the hunter told his son to play in the same place as 
before. "If your brother comes up to scratch you, hold him till I come." 
The man hid near-by to watch. When Pa'garutandza'uwuhe came out 
of the water, he tried to scratch Ka'taxantandza'uwuhe's face. His own 
face was yellow. His father seized him, bound his hands and feet, and took 
him to the grass-lodge. There he told the boys they were brothers and 
should never fight. They were the first twins ever born. 

The twins began to like each other. One day, while their father was out 
hunting, the boys were cooking some food in an earthen pot. Their mother 
was still lying on the ground unburied. "Get up, mother, tend to the 
meat," said the twins. "You wake her up," said Lodge-Boy to his brother; 
"you are clever." He saw his mother's fingers twitching Twins resusci- 
and tried to rouse her, but failed. Then Thrown-Away *^*® mother, 
took a stick, put it in his mother's hand, grasped her wrist and made her 
stir the meat in the earthen pot. Suddenly she woke up, sat up straight and 
continued stirring the food. She began to eat and walk about, looking very 
handsome. Her husband came home and noticed how pretty she looked. 

The hunter made a new hoop for the twins. He told them not to throw 
it southward. When the boys were playing, they forgot about his warning 
and rolled the hoop towards the south. The hoop rolled on without stop- 
ping. The boys ran after it, throwing their sticks; still roU hoop in 

it went on rolling. At last it got to the shore of the big forbidden direc- 

tion sw^llowBd 
sea. Lodge-Boy asked his brother to let it go, but Thrown- by water-buffalo, 

Away followed. The hoop fell into the water where it rescued. 

turned into a water-bufl'alo. Thrown-Away ran into the monster's anus. 

Lodge-Boy dug a hole near the shore and waited for the animal to come out. 

The next morning at sunrise, the water-buffalo went ashore. Lodge-Boy 

took his bow and shot the buffalo. It ran back to the sea and fell dead at 

the shore. The boy skinned it and cut it open. Thrown-Away came out 

with his hoop, smiling. They cut the animal into small pieces and cooked 

its flesh. Then they started homewards. 

They came to a strange tribe of Indians, who locked travelers up in a 

dark rock, where they could not get out and were finally killed. The boys 

were imprisoned in the usual Avay. "Thrown-Away, Locked in cave; 

get us out, you know something," said his brother, burst it open by 

Pa'garutandza'uwuhe began to think how they could be ^ o^^r. 

saved; he was a medicine-man. He wished that water would come. Im- 



282 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

mediately it began to rain very hard. The rain cracked the rock, the boys 
escaped and again turned towards their home. 

Next they came to a giant. He said to them, "If you go to those willows 
and get sticks from them, I shall make arrows for you." 

Subdue bears in r^j • ^ j,^ . .^ ^^^.^^ inanv bear-dogs (wu'ra ca'ro) under 
their path. (^ i r. . o v / 

the trees and hoped they would devour the two boys. 

When they saw the bear-dogs under the willows, Pa'garutandza'uwuhe 
asked his brother to take the lead. Ka'taxantandza'uwuhe said, "No, 
you are the clever one; you ought to go first." So Thrown- A way started 
out and, when he got to the bears, he kicked them aside right and left, mak- 
ing a path for himself and his brother. At first Ka'taxantandza'uwuhe was 
afraid and held back, then he followed in his brother's footsteps. They 
took the sticks from the willows and brought them to the giant, who now 
made arrows for them. Then they set out once more for their home. 

They came to a large white rock, which they cut into little pieces. They 
put the white fragments on the mountain-tops. This is why there is snow 

on the mountains to-day. At last they reached home. 
Make snow, re- rpj^^j^ ^^^j^^^. ^^..^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^jj j^^^j^ ^^^^ ^j^^j^. n^o^hcr also 
turn home. . . ^ 

was very old. The mother died a short tune after. Iwo 

days after her death her husband also died of old age. This is why people 
die of old age now. 

One evening two boys were rolling a willow hoop towards the west, 

throwing willow sticks at it. It rolled down to the water of the big sea. The 

boys ran after their wheel and one of them fell into the 

Rescued from ^yj^t^r, where a water-buffalo swallowed him. His brother, 
water-buffalo. ' 

Ka'taxantandza'uwuhe, stood on the shore and began to 

wail. "The water-bufl'alo has swallowed my brother." Then he asked 
the monster to show him his brother. A wave came and he asked it also to 
show him his brother. After a while he met a man, who hunted water- 
buffalo and who promised to shoot the monster. The hunter shot and 
killed the buflFalo. He skinned it and told the boy to look out for his 
brother. They cut out the entrails and the flesh about the breasts. Then 
the hunter said, "Here is j'our younger brother." The boy could not see 
him and asked, "Where?" "Here he is; this is your younger brother." 
When he saAV him, he cried, "Younger brother, I have been pining for 
you." The hunter told Pa'garutandza'uwuhe to get out quickly, then the 
two brothers embraced each other. 

Suddenly it became cloudy and rain began to fall. Then a huge bird 
called Nii'neyunc ^ came flying and carried the boys to a distant island. 



> Kroeber, (c) 208. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 283 

Nti'iieyunc's mother always sent him out to hunt. The Father' used to 

tell him, "Hasten, bring more people to this island." The carried away by 

bird was going to kill the bovs; but Water-Boy thought of ^°^- water-boy 
, . ,? , .„ , , . ^T , " , T l^i"s bird. Roc's 

his obsidian knite and threw it at JNu'neyuncs throat, mother aids 

Nii'neyunc immediately flew up so high that the boys twins, 
could no longer see him. Then he circled around and around, finally 
falling down on the island. All the island was quaking. Then Water- 
Boy knew the monster was dead. They did not know what to do next. 
Water-Boy saw smoke rising and they went towards it. They found that 
it came from the tent of Nii'neyunc's mother, an old woman, who kept a 
great number of ducks. There were a great many duck's eggs lying there. 
The old woman allowed them to eat and told them it was time for them to 
go home. She gave them her son's wings to fly away on and said the Water- 
youths would take care of them. 

After they had left, the Water-youths told the boys they would have to 
be put on a tree because otherwise Pa-n-dzo'avits (the water giant) would 
kill them. The Water-youths placed the boys high up, and left. After a 

while Pa'-n-dzo'avits came out of the water, and said, 
ar n i • i j> tt t i i i Water-youths 

1 smell something good to eat. He climbed up the protect twins 

tree to catch the boys, but the Water-youths returned and against water- 
pushed him down again. "Now," they said to the boys, 
"you will go home to your mother. You must travel westward. You will 
get to the Owd tribe, who are very strong; but don't be afraid of them. 
They do not eat anything." 

They set out and came to the Owls, who could not eat, because they 
had no mouths. Water-Boy said, "I will make a mouth Twins cut onen 
for you, then you will be able to eat." So he cut an mouthiess peo- 
opening with his obsidian and then they could swallow ^ ® ^ **'*' '■®*^'"^- 
food. The boys went on. They passed a cliff by the water. Then at 
last they arrived at their mother's lodge. 

25. The Boy's Travels and the Water- Youths (Pa-bi'hiano). 

Two boys were camping at night. At the foot of a jiine-tree they 
built a fire and were going to fall asleep. One of them ^^^ j^-jj^ 
took out an arrow. "Perhaps the bird Xii'neyunc is sit- boy, is slain by 
ting on a tree near-by." The other boy was badly fright- '^""^p*^*"^- 
ened and begged his friend to keep still. In the night Xii'neyunc was sitting 
on a tree near-by. The boys woke up, saw him, and shot off their arrows 

' Shoshone: A'po ^ father. My interpreter translated, "God." 



284 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

at him. He seized them and flew towards the east.^ There he lived on 
an island in the big sea. He dropped them at his house and killed one 
of the boys. Then he sat down and devoured the dead youth. He began 
to drink his blood. As he was swallowing it, he raised his head and gazed 
fixedly at the sky. Then the second boy remembered his obsidian knife. 
He threw it at Xii'neyunc's throat. The bird flew up, but after some time 
fell dead on the ground. 

The boy arose. "Where shall I go?" he asked. Seeing some smoke, 
he walked towards it and met an old woman, who was sitting on the ground. 

Bo aided by ^"^hc liad never seen an Indian before; she was Nii'neyunc's 
Roc's mother and mother. "Where did you come from?" she asked, 
water-youths. "Nii'neyunc brought me here." "My boy is bad, he 

always kills Indians." "I have killed him," said the boy. "Well, go and 
cut off his feathers." The boy did as he was bidden and the old woman 
made a boat for him. She brought him ducks' eggs to eat. These were i)ut 
in the boat. She also brought some wood and built a fire for him. Then 
he paddled away. The Water-youths came up to him; Nii'neyunc's mother 
had told them to help the boy. "Pa'-n-dzo'avits wishes to eat you up," 
they said. "You must keep up a fire all the time, then he will be afraid." 
The old woman watched the fire from afar. The Water-boys caught up 
with the youth and'i)ushed his boat to shore. A ])ine-tree was growing close 
to the water. The Water-youths placed the Indian high up on the tree, to 
prevent Pa'-n-dzo'avits from catching him. When they had left, the monster 
came out of the sea and climbed the tree to devour the boy. But the Water- 
youths returned at daylight and threw him back into the water. 

The Water-youths told the boy he would next have to pass over fields of 

Cactus-fields cactus, but admonished him not to be afraid. He put 
and rattlesnakes on a great many moccasins and passed through the cactus 
passed. fields without injury. In the evening, there were no more 

cacti. Then the youths inforihed him he would have to pass a great many 
rattlesnakes, but exhorted him not to be afraid. For a whole day he had to 
pass rattlesnakes, but in the evening they were all gone. 

The boy was obliged to travel through Dzoavits' country. The Water- 
youths told him Dzoavits would come up and play with him. They ad- 
vised him not to laugh, no matter what the giant did; but to stand straight 

Tickled by ^^^^ ^ Stick. Dzoavits noticed the boy. "What is this? 

Dzoavits, stands This is Indian flesh." He went up to tickle the boy and 
^*^"" make him laugh. He tickled his nose, his mouth, his 

ears, his nostrils and his breasts. Anum quoque titillavit; cum testibus 

' Cf. Kroeber. (c) 208. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 285 

et cum membro virili ludebat. He watched the boy. The boy did not 

stir. Then Dzoavits went away without hurting him. 

The Water-youths warned the Indian against another monster. "You 

will have to pass a powerful mouse. Dig a hole in the 

ground to sleep in, build a fire around it and shoot up „„,„^,??l,^„„-> ^^' 
fi r ' I gerous mouse. 

arrows. Then you will be safe." The boy obeyed and 
was not annoyed by the monster. 

The next day the Water-boys said, "In the evening you will get to the 
Owl people. They are going to howl. Don't get frightened. In the 
morning you will have passed them." The boy traveled 
on and in the evening arrived at a large Indian village, j^^g ^i^e "^°" 
All the Owl-people had no mouths. They used to put 
fat meat in the fire and inhale the vapors through the nose.^ The youth 
took a knife and cut open their mouths. Then they were able to eat a great 
deal. 

26. The Boy who Visited hi.s Graxdfathers. 

An old woman was living in her lodge with her son. One day the boy 

asked. "Who is mv maternal grandfather?" "Your 

IP 1 1 i"- 1 1 T f )> iifTiT 11 ^°y inquires 

grandtather does not live here, he hves tar away. Well, about grand- 

to-morrow I shall go out early to hunt rabbits. I shall '***ie'"> is warned 
kill one, which you shall skin. Then I shall go to my 
grandfather." "You are crazy, he lives very far away," said his mother; 
"He lives on the other side of the mountains, you will get burnt up if you 
go there." "I shall go." The woman began to cry. "Don't go away, 
you will surely be killed. Your grandfather's terrible bear-dog (wiira- 
ca'ro) will burn you up." 

The boy killed the rabbit and told his mother to keep the skin as a life- 
token. "If I get killed, it will break to pieces." He went away. His 
mother lay down and cried. The boy went up the moun- Leaves iife-sien 
tains. He looked down from the summit. He saw the sets out, foot 
fire from where he was standing. The earth Avas on fire ^^^ ^ ^' 
and it seemed as if he could not cross. He walked along and jumped over 
the red-hot ground. One of his feet burnt off. He went home. He stood 
in his lodge on only one foot. The people heard about it. 

Again he went across the fire. His second foot burnt up. He went 



1 Kroeber, (c) 209. 
Boas, (c), 31. 
Cusliing, 401. 



286 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

home. lie stood in his lodge without feet. The people heard about it.^ 
Comoieteiy ^^ went out again. On suceessive trips his legs, thighs, 

burnt up, re- waist, trunk, arms, stomach, intestines, liver, heart, burn 
stored y stranger. ^^^^ ^lembrum virile quoque combustum est. Then his 
head, neck, cheeks, tongue, eyes, ears, teeth, and brains were all consumed 
by the flames. The white flesh behind his ear peeled off. Then after sun- 
set, Tosa-pono (white + ?) came along. He jumped across the fire and sat 
down under a rock. He said, "In the night, it will rain and snow. There 
will be a snowstorm." It stormed and snowed all night. The fire was 
])ut out. In the morning it was cool. Tosa-pono took the burnt boy's 
head and put his body together again. 

The boy then proceeded on his way. He lay down. Far away he 

could see his grandfathers' lodge. His two grandfathers' - big bear-dog 

that used to eat Indians noticed the boy and was getting restless. "What 

. . ^ „. does our dog see there?" asked one of the brothers; 

Arrives at ^ ' 

grandfathers' for neither of them could see the boy. The boy walked 

^°^^^- on. At last the older man saw him. "What is that? 

That looks like an Indian. Leave him alone," he said to the big dog. He 
took a large rope and tied the dog up. "An Indian is coming here, let him 
alone. He looks like our grandson ; he is our grandson." They restrained 
their bear-dog, which they also used as a horse, by holding the rope very 
firmly. The boy came up to his grandparents. They kissed him and 
told him to rest. Then they gave him food and built a fire. They ate for 
a long time. 

When the boy had perished in the flames, his mother had looked at the 
skin hanging in her lodge. It broke to pieces. His mother cried, "My son 
has been burnt up." She wept all night. 

The two old men noticed that their horse was getting restless again. 

"What is the matter with our horse? It must see some hostile Indians, 

ttack ^^^^^ come to kill us." They turned their bear-dog loose. 

repelled by grand- The animal ran away, killed one of the enemy and ran 

parents' bear. y^,^^,y. ^^ j^^ ^^^.^^ ^^^^^ jj^ stayed there a little while; 

then ran away, killed another enemy and returned. The two grandfathers 
went out to fight the hostile Indians. Their dog was completely covered 
with blood. W'hen the old men were exhausted, they roused their grandson 
and he went out. The bear killed all of the enemy. Then the old men 
cut off the heads of the slain men, tied the scalps on a pole and sang all night. 



1 These sentences are repeated every time the hero returns with another part of his body 
burnt off. 

2 Literally his two maternal grandfathers, i. e. his maternal grandfather and a grand- 
uncle. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 287 

In the morning, the boy said, "I am going awav. INIy motlicr is longing 
to see me." His grandfathers kissed him and bade him farewell. They 
held their bear back, telling him to leave their grandchild alone. One of 
them held him by the mouth and the other by his ears. The boy went 
homewards. When he came to the spot where he had been burnt up, he 
found no fire there. He only saw some smoke. Without any misadven- 
ture, he approached his mother's lodge. His mother 
was there, crying on his account. Suddenly he cried, j^other 
"Get up, mother, get up." "That sounds like my son's 
voice," she thought. She arose crying. "Why, what are you crying for? 
I am dying of cold; build me a fire," said the youth to his mother. She 
looked at him. Her son sat down. The old woman got up and kissed her 
son until he asked her to let him alone. 



27. The Disobedient Brother. 

A woman was living with her two sons. Her father. Snake, dwelt near- 
by. One day, one of the boys asked his mother to tell him a story. She 
said, "I don't know any story; go to your grandfather, he knows many 
stories." The boy went to his grandfather. He said, snake crawls 
"My mother has sent me to you to hear a story." Senex into woman, kills 
"Vestri matris vagina," baud aliud respondit. The boy 
went home and told his mother. She got up, saying, "That filthy old 
man." She seized a stick and was going to club him, sed senex in vulvam 
inrepsit et eam interfecit. The boy did not know what had happened and 
was crying, "Mother, your food is' burning." He went to look for her 
and found his mother dead, with her abdomen bulging out. 

He climbed up a hill and cried for a long time. His older brother, who 

had been out hunting, saw him and asked what was the matter. "Our 

grandfather has killed our mother." "Perhaps you are the cause of his 

killing her," said the older brother. The vouth knelt 

. , " Sons extract 

down and rubbed his mother s body to get out the snake. animals from 

Various animals came out and the vounger bov killed them corpse, at last 

^ a girl, 

all. At last the youth said, "When our grandfather comes 

out, I am going to kill him." But the younger boy did not want to press 

down his mother's abdomen, so he insisted on killing Snake. However, 

when Snake stuck out his head and wriggled his body, the boy was badly 

frightened and ran off. The youth pursued the Snake, but could not catch 

him. He Avent into a rock. The older brother scolded the younger one 

for running away. "There is still a younger sister of ours in the corpse," 

he said. So they belabored the corpse once more and extracted a little girl. 



288 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. II, 

They washed her with warm water and took her to their lodge, where 

they wrapped her up in a hide and laid her on the ground. The boy made 

a pappoose-board, on which he always carried the little girl about, strapping 

it to his back. The boy performed all the duties of a 
Boy tends sis- 
ter, disobeys older woman. Whenever the older brother killed some game, 

brother; sister ^lJ^^, [)Qy ^yould scrape off the hair. The youth cautioned 

his brother to take good care of the girl and never to chide 

her. Once the baby fouled the boy's back. He became very angry and 

threw her away. Then he went up a hill and began to sing. The baby 

cried all the time. At last the boy thought he would look after her. As he 

came nearer, he could not hear any crying. The girl had disappeared. 

Now, the boy himself began to cry. He went to an open place and 

cried there. The older brother returned and the boy went 
Boy scolded, , , . a^ ■ ^ i- i j> i • i 

sister rescued towards him. Our sister has disappeared, he said. 

from abductor, "What did you do to her?" asked the older brother. "I 

threw her away, because she fouled my blanket." The 

youth scolded his brother. "We shall never see her again," he said; "Dzoa- 

vits has taken her away." The boys started for Dzoavits' house. They 

went on the roof and could hear a noise below. It was caused by their sister, 

who was weaving a willow-basket. She was now Dzoavits' wife; Dzoavits 

was inside. "How can we get down there?" they asked. Dzoavits told 

them to use their scrapers to cut the rocks. They cut a wide opening and 

fell through into the lodge. Dzoavits asked them to be seated. Their 

sister was now a large, pregnant woman. The boy said, "My sister has 

grown." The two brothers decided to kill the giant and take away their 

sister. They shot their scraper at Dzoavits and killed him. Then they 

climbed up with their sister. As soon as they had gone out, the opening 

closed tight. 

From now on, the sister scraped hides and did the woman's work about 

Boy again ^^^ lodge. "When our sister cooks, let her alone; don't 

disobeys, sister bother her," said the youth to the boy. Once, when the 

urnt up. woman was preparing some food, the younger brother 

began to helji her. Suddenly her hair caught fire and she was consumed 

by the flames. The younger brother cried. The youth returned. "Plow 

did this happen ? You did not obey me." They could not save their sister 

this time. 

28. The Sheep-Wo.max. 

Two brothers were living together with their Avife. The older brother 
went out hunting every day. The woman went in search of roots. One 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Slioshone. 289 

morning the oldei- man found the trail of a mountain-sheep. He followed 
it around the mountain-side. Towards evening it led him 
back towards his lodge again and he gave up the chase. , sheeo 
His wife had returned before him and he told her how 
he had tracked the sheep. He decided to start again on the next day and 
try to catch the animal. The next morning, the woman went out digging. 
After eating, her husband also left the lodge. Again he found the sheep's 
trail. It was a fresh track going around the mountain. Towards evening 
it led him back to his wikiup again. His wife was home when he returned. 
He told his younger brother to set out for the other side of the mountain, 
where there were no trees and where he might be able to catch sight of the 
sheep. Accordingly, they started out the next morning. The woman also 
left in order to dig roots, but she never brought any home. She told her 
husband she could not get any food because of her baby, which cried all 
the time and had to be nursed. 

The younger brother stayed out for three days. He went to the summit 
of the mountain. He was fatigued. His guardian spirit 
ordered him to build a big fire. He saw the track around ^^^ ^fe'Ttrick^'^' 
a turn in the path. He obeyed. After a while, he saw 
the woman coming along. Ejus vulva terrae nixa quasi ovis vestigia fecit. 
The youth drew nearer and pulled his bow-string. Hearing the noise, the 
woman looked up, saw the man and hurried home. The baby was crying. 
The young man returned to the place assigned by his brother and fell asleep. 
His brother came up and asked whether he had seen anything. The youth 
had forgotten all about the woman and said he had not seen an}i;hing 
because he had been asleep all the time. The older brother began to up- 
braid him; "Why didn't you watch? I told you to watch." Then the 
youth recollected and informed his brother of what he had seen. They 
went home. When they arrived there, they found the woman busy. "Why 
don't you bring any roots home?" they asked her. She said the child had 
kept her busy again, the next time she would leave it home. 

The brothers decided to play a trick on her. They turned themselves 

into mountain-sheep and stood on the creek near their lodge. The little 

bov was with them. In the evening, the woman came 

, " rx • 1 1 1 • • Brothers turn 

home. Seemg the sheep so near their dwellmg, she thought themselves into 

the men must have fallen asleep. "You sleepy-heads, sheep ; pursued by 

there are some sheep right out here. Get up!" When 

no one got up, she went in, took a bow and arrow and shot at them herself. 

The sheep ran away. The woman pursued them. Whenever she came 

u]) to them, they managed to escape. They went far across the mountains 

and the woman continued to follow them. 



290 Anthropological Papers American Museiim of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

At last, their Avife got to Coyote's people. She informed Coyote of the 
big sheep that had run away there. Coyote painted himself up and an- 
Wife meets Coy- flounced the news to his fellow-tribesmen. The Indians 
ote's tribe, selects scattered to hunt down the game, but failed to catch them, 
new husbana. ^^ j^^^^ ^^^ Grasshopper went out. He saw the sheep 
running towards him, tore off a patch from his moccasins, pasted it on his 
forehead to disguise himself and then shot the baby sheep. The other In- 
dians hunted other game. When they returned to camp, the woman sharp- 
ened a stick and tested the hide of each animal brought in. When she 
struck Grasshopper's sheep-skin, the stick broke in two immediately. Ac- 
cordingly, she married Grasshopper. Coyote was jealous. "A man must 
have a loose-jointed leg like Grasshopper's," he said; "then one can get a 
girl easily. If I had a leg like that, I would have won the woman." 

29. Thunder.^ 

An old woman was living with her grandson. Rabbit. The boy once 
said to his grandmother that he wanted Thunder's wife. He had a bear's 
paw for his medicine. The old woman warned him. "Thunder is strong, 
Thunder ex- ^^^ ^'*^^ ^^^^ you." The boy, however, went up the moun- 
changes wife for tains. He met Thunder's ten wives, who were digging 
boy s medicine. ^^^^ roots. He looked at them for a while to see which was 
the best-looking. Then he went up to the prettiest one, who was beauti- 
fully dressed, and tried to carry her off. She resisted and the other wives 
caught hold of her and called on their husband for aid. Thunder came, 
making a terrible noise. At first he was going to kill the young man, but 
when he saw the boy's bear's paw he was frightened. He said, "Give me 
your medicine and you may have my wife." The boy agreed and took the 
woman home. His grandmother had been crying; when she heard Thunder 
rumbling, she thought he had killed her grandson. The young woman 
lived with her husband and went out digging roots for him and his grand- 
mother. 

30. The Bad Medicine Max. 

A long time ago there was an Indian who used to start dances for the 
other people. Whenever he saw a good-looking girl, he would point at 
her, crying, " Wul", and claim her as a wife. He was a very large man and 

1 Cf. Spinden. 154-156. 



1909.] Louie, The Northern Shoshone. 291 

believed to be a very powerful medicine man. The people believed he 

had the power to kill them by making them cough, so all 

P • 1 p 1 • /-x 1 • J. J J. J.I ' Bad medicine- 

were airaid oi hnn. Unce he pomted to another man s ^^^ killed 

second wife, saying, "Wul", and seized the woman. Her 

husband refused to let her go and pushed the medicine-man away. The 

medicine-man, who only looked so large because he was in the habit of 

padding himself, did not hurt the young man in any way. The Indians 

saw he did not have very much power. They had a council about him and 

decided to kill him with a rock. The large man had a dog at home. Cum 

canis coiret, magi quoque membrum erigebatur. The Indians seized the 

medicine-man and killed him. The dog managed to escape. He was 

supposed to be his master's spirit. 

31. Cannibal Stories. 

(a) 

Long ago there was a Cannibal (Xo'mo-rika = Indian eater), whose 
father was called No'mopagurturux. All the people were afraid of them. 
They used to kill women; they did not wish to kill men. When an Indian 
died, they took his corpse and ate it. The Cannibal 
father, with his son, ate up his own wife. When the habits 
Cannibal found Indians, he would say, "I like to eat 
people." He ran towards young men's tents and slept nearby. When the 
women went out to dig up potatoes from the ground, Xo'mo-rika would lie 
in ambush. He would carry off one at a time on his back, and eat her up. 
After devouring a woman, he slept five days, snoring loudly. Once the 
Indians burnt the Cannibal up, but he came to life again. 

(b) 

A man was living with his wife and son. The woman and her son were 
going out for wood. When they came home, the husband pushed her down. 
She began to cry and the boy also cried. The woman told the boy to kill 
his father. Her son brought his bow and arrows. " Quick, cannibal 

shoot him," she cried. The man begged to be let alone abuses, slays, 
and his life was spared. He went out, while the woman 
remained at home. Wlien he returned, he again maltreated his wife. She 
cried and begged her son to shoot his father. The man stabbed her with a 
pointed stick, killing her. The son went around crying, because his mother 



292 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

was dead. The husband began to eat his wife. He chewed her flesh, he 
ate her stomach and her intestines. Then he stopped eating. 

(c) 

A man was Uving with his sister and her two boys. One day the man 

said, "I wish to visit a friend." He set out and arrived at his friend's 

lodge, where he slept during the night. The next morning he arose and 

killed his friend. He skinned the body, dried it and 
Man kUls ,• i • i i i i i mi " > • 

friend, gives flesh sliced it; then he lay down there, ihe man s sister was 

to nephews for beginning to grow anxious about him. "What has 

happened to your uncle?" she asked her sons. The boys 

quickly ran away to look for their uncle. Avunculum conspexerunt qui cum 

muliere coibat. When he saw his nephews, he told them to carry the meat 

home and have it cooked whenever they were hungry. He said it was some 

game killed by his friend. They brought it home and their mother sliced 

and dried the meat. She boiled it for an entire day; then she told her sons 

to eat it outside the lodge. The children took the food outside and began 

to eat. 

The cannibal was sleeping at this time. While one of the boys was 

sitting outside and eating, he looked at the piece of meat in his hand and 

_,. . noticed the hair on it. He thought, "What is this? 

Discovery of ... 

human hair in This looks like human hair. Do they eat food like this 

*°°*^' at the home of our uncle's friend ?" He asked his brother 

to look at his meat. In the evening, they compared their own hair with 

that found in the food. "1 think," said one boy, "our uncle has killed 

some Indian." They ran home and told their mother. She smelt the food, 

took her pot and carried it outside. They sat down by the bank of a creek 

and vomited what they had eaten. 

Their uncle came home at night. He was very hungry and wanted to 

eat the boys. "To-morrow you may eat them, but not to-day," said the 

mother. They all lay down to .sleep. In the morning, the woman woke 

„ ^ „ up her sons and sent them awav. Later their uncle 

Nephews flee > 

from uncle, es- woke up and wanted to eat them. "They don't wake 
*^*^®' up early enough," he said. They were gone. They 

were traveling about. Their uncle and his sister tracked them. The boys 
were saying, "He is hunting us; he kills Indians." In the night the uncle 
said, "I am longing for my nephews." After he had lain down, his sister 
departed. He tried to find the tracks of his relatives.' 



> The details of the last paragraph are not clear, owing to the interpreter's deficient com- 
mand of English. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 293 

32. The Buffalo who Stole a\ Ixi)L\x Girl.' 

A young woman once went for water. Near the creek she found a 

buffalo skeleton and she began to plav with the bones. 
-.iiiii<Ti ^•c 1*^11 -11 Woman ab- 

buddenly the buiialo came to lite, and took the gn-1 along ducted by buffalo 

with him. The woman's husband looked for her until he recovered by hus- 

found her trail, followed it and recovered his wife. 

The buffalo summoned his followers. He said, "A man has stolen 

my wife." They all started in pursuit. There was nothing but <lust flying 

u]) in the air from the tramping of the buffaloes. The 

chief buffalo had a large anus. When the herd had tree; buffalo hook 

nearly caught up to the fugitives, the man and his wife ^^^' ^^^^ killed 

Til IP- • ri-M f^ 1 ^y husband, 

climbed up a cottonwood tacing a river. 1 he buffalo 

passed by the tree without noticing the couple on it. Ultimus cum venit 

bos, mulier in eius tergum minxit. The buffalo noticed the fugitives and 

told the animal in front of him; so word was passed along the line to the 

leader. The entire herd faced about and the chief jumped at the tree, 

hooking it with his horns. Vir per bovis anum miratus cordem conspexit. 

He aimed at the buffalo's heart and shot off arrow after arrow, but failed 

to hurt the animal. In the meantime, the buffalo were tearing doAvn the 

cottonwood. At last ^Meadow-lark flew on the tree and bade the Indian 

use his fire drill for an arrow. The man opened his quiver and shot off his 

fire-stick. He struck the buffalo's heart and killed him. The other buffalo 

dispersed and left them alone. 

33. The Stolen Wife.^ 

Two brothers were living with their wife. They always went out hunt- 
ing together. Once, while they were out, some hostile Indians came and 
stole their wife. When they returned, they saw that she 

was gone and looked for her in the neighborhood, but „^„J.f s o en y 
f^ '^ ' enemy. 

without success. The older brother was furious, he went 
to the mountains, sharpened his knife and came home again. 

They set out together to look for their wife. At night they arrived at 
the camp of the enemy. The people were meeting at a (council in a large 
tent and were smoking their pipes. Some friendly Indian 
told the brothers that their wife's new husband had tied ^ 
bells to the woman's dress, so that the camp should be 
alarmed if she attempted to flee. The two men watched the Indians. 

1 Cf. Dorsey and Kroeber, 153. Kroeber, (g) 101. Wissler and Diivall, 112. 
- Cf. Kroeber, (e) 125. 



294 Anthropological Papers American Musevm of Natural History. [\o\. II, 

When the Indians had ceased smoking, the council broke up and each 
warrior went to his lodge. 

In the evening, the stolen woman went out to ease herself. Then her 
husband, who lay in ambush, seized her. She asked him to wait until all 
the Indians had gone to sleep. She told him her new husband never Moke 
up at night after he had once fallen asleep. The older 
steal horses ' ^^ther said, "I shall cut his head off." After every one 

in the camp had retired, the two men entered their wife's 
tent. The older brother cut ofi" her new husband's head and threw it away. 
The woman cut off her bells so as not to make any noise. Then the brothers 
took away some of the enemies' beads and stole some horses. They fled 
and arrived home in safety. 

34. The Horse Woman.^ 

The Indians were hunting buffalo. They had broken camp. One 
young woman was riding a stallion. She always fell behind the rest of the 

■ii7^,v,o», ^r,,,v, Indians. Once a man watched her. Earn solam cum 

Woman enam- 
ored of horse, equo coire vidit. When the people camped the next 
runs away. time, the man shot the stallion and killed him. The 

woman cried all night. Then she ran away with a wild horse. 

The next year the Indians were hunting again. They noticed a herd 
of wild horses and what looked like an Indian woman running along with 

CauEht among ^^^"1- Her pubic hair was very long and hung down 
wild horses, re- like a horse's tail. Her skin also resembled that of a 
®*^* ■ horse, only her face Avas hinnan. The Indian chief sent 

out some men to catch her. They went out and lassoed her when she Avas 
exhausted from running. They took her home to the tent of her Indian 
husband. Her grown-up son saw her, but she did not recognize him or 
speak to any one. She only whinnied like a horse. The Indians tied her 
up. The boy said to his father, "Let her go, father, she is not a good 
woman." They released her and she esca})ed. 

35. The White Man and the Monster-Bird. 

The Indians were moving camp. They foinid that some of their young 

wv,*^ ^ov, nien and horses were lost, and did not know how this could 

White man ' 

offers to kill have happened. A White sheep-raiser was living there. 

°^°^^ ^' He said he knew what was the trouble. A strange being 

had taken the men away. "If you pay me," he said, "I may kill it for you." 



1 Dorsey and Kroeber, 247. G. A. Dorsey, (c) 294, 358. Wissler and Duvall, 152. 
Kroeber (e), 114. The theme, whicli is treated with great finesse in Guy de Maupassant's 
"Fou?", may possibly have been imported by Europeans. 



1909.] 



Loivie, The Northern Shoshone. 295 



The Indians paid no attention to the White man. An Indian went out 
alone to fight the monster. He saw it flying; it looked ^_^^ ^^^^.^^ 

like a large dark cloud. He shot at it, but could not hurt ^^^^^ Indians, 
it. It caught him and flew home. The next day, two 
men went out with their guns. They separated at a little distance. When 
they saw the monster flying, they shot at it. Again the monster snatched 
them up and took them home. Then all the Indians said, "Perhaps the 
White man will kill it." They killed thirty head of sheep, took off their 
hides and gave them to the sheep-raiser. He put them all on, took a stick 
and went looking for the monster-bird. 

The giant bird swooped down on the White man and carried him home, 
but could not kill him. The black monster's son came home and wanted 
to eat the sheep-raiser. The White man said, "You won't ^^_^^ ^^^ ^^^ 
eat me." ^ Then he grasped his stick and knocked down ^^^^ 
father and son. He killed both of them. The monster 
had a beautiful tail. The sheep-raiser cut off its tail feathers and brought 
them home. 

Perhaps this monster was the bird Nii'neyunc. 

36. The Poor Boy and his Horse. 

(Told by a Shoshone who had married a Nez Perce woman and lived 
with her tribe.) 

An old woman was living with her grandson. He was in the habit of 
playing by the edge of a pond. Once he found there a colt and some gold. 
Every morning he went to the pond to tend the colt. One ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ 
day it said to him, "Make a halter for me." The boy poor boy. 
obeyed. Then the horse said, "Try me in a race. There 
are race-horses on the other side of the mountains. Let us go there 
to-morrow morning." 

The next day the boy rode to the other side of the mountains. The 
Chief who lived there had five daughters and five horses. ^_^^ ^^^^ ^^^ 
The boy said, "We wish to race with you." The Chief owner, 
laughed at the orphan, but prepared for the race. He 
wagered a race-horse; the boy, his gold; and Coyote, who took the boy's 
side, his bow and arrows. The Chief said, "We'll ride around the other 
side' of these two mountains." They were to go around a yellow post and 
then return to the starting-point. The boy brought his horse there and 



This is possibly a fragmentary version of tlie familiar Tluinderbird dialogue. 



296 Anthropological Papers America7i Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. TI, 

bridled it. It advi.sed him to get two .switches. Tliey started and tlie little 

horse ran beside the Chief's. Soon all the people were gathering to watch. 

They said, "There goes the sorrel horse." The little horse won the race. 

Coyote shouted and .seized the Chiefs horse. "It is mine now," he said. 

The Chief proposed to run another race. He had a big horse to ride on 

this time. The Chief bet his horse against the boy's 

Chief again .^^^j Covote's wagers. "We'll ride to the other side'of 

outrun ay boy. • ^ 

these four mountains," he said. This time there was a 

red stick to mark the half-goal. The men mounted their horses and started 

off. After a long while they came back again, and the little horse was ahead. 

Coyote seized the Chief's horse. "We'll race again to-morrow," said the 

Chief; "come back again in the morning." 

The next day the Chief had a white race horse. They went over six 
mountains and rode around a white goal-staff. When they came back, 
the boy's horse was in the lead. Coyote ran to the Chief, and seized his 
other races horse. The Chief now had only two horses left. He 

^on- asked the boy to come again. The next day they passed 

eight mountains. The Chief rode a buckskin horse. After a long while, 
they arrived at the starting-place with the little horse in the lead. Coyote 
shouted and got the Chief's horse. The Chief said, "Let us race again to- 
morrow for the last time." 

At night the Chief kept thinking and talking of his opponent's little 

horse. In the morning they started to race and the boy won. Coyote 

shouted and took the Chief's horse. They sat down. The Chief did not 

know what to do. He said, "To-morrow we shall i)ile up sticks, build a 

fire and see which of us can ride through the fire." The boy went away 

crving, for he was afraid he would be killed in this contest. 
Chief defeated ^' , ., ,,_, • i at 'x u u a " 

in trial of His horse said, Cease crying! lou wont be hurt. 

strength; ride When the boy came to the Chief the next day, the Chief 

wagered one of his daughters against all the horses that he 

had lost. Hiey gathered firewood and built a fire. "Let the boy go in 

first," said the Chief. The boy mounted his horse and rode through the 

flames. All the people watched him. He passed through without getting 

burnt at all. Then the Chief had to ride through. After he had gone only 

a short distance, his horse fell dowil, burnt to death. Thus the hoy won 

again. 

The Chief said, "Come again to-morrow, you must capture the big 

horse for me. If you get it, you may have my second daughter." This 

horse Avas a gigantic animal, as large as a log-cabin, and no one was able to 

ride it. The boy set out with a large rope to look for the monstrous horse. 

His own colt said, "I will fight with it; you just put your halter around 



1909.] Loivie, The Northern Shoshone. 297 

his neck and lead him home." The boy turned his coh loose. When the 

gigantic horse appeared, the colt grew bigger and bigger, 

until it was larger than the big horse. The two horses coifs aid, boy 

met and fought. The colt threw the other horse to the captures gigantic 

. . . horse, 

ground. The boy ran up with his rope and put his halter 

on the conquered animal. Then he brought the horse to the Chief. His 

colt grew small again. 

"Come again, to-morrow," said the Chief. "I'll set you your last task 
then." When the boy arrived the next morning, the Chief told him of a 
young girl who lived on the other side of the big sea. "If you bring her 
here and win again, you may become Chief in my place and have all my 
property. I shall be your servant." The Chief ordered Brings girl 

the girl not to accompany the poor boy. The boy crossed from distant 

the sea on his colt which grew much larger again. When ^°^^ ^^' 

he dismounted on the other side, he saw the Indians going to a church- 
meeting. The girl, who lived in a large house, was watching the Indians. 
The boy, dressed up handsomely, passed by her house. She noticed him 
and liked his appearance, not knowing who he was nor where he came from. 
She also dressed up, mounted her horse and approached him. Then both 
crossed the sea and got to the Chief. The colt assumed its former shape 
and the boy dressed in his usual way. The Chief scolded the girl, because 
she had disobeyed him. 

The girl complained that she had lost her ring while crossing the sea. 
Then the Chief ordered the boy to get the ring. "If you find it," he said, 
"I shall leave this place and you will be chief instead.'" 
I'he boy went to the shore of the sea. He took some of beco^e^g chief*^^' 
his gold and threw it into the water. When the fish swam 
up to him, he asked, "Have you seen my ring?" The fish said they had 
not seen it. The boy threw more and more gold into the water, and every 
time the fish came to him, but they said they did not know^ anything about 
the ring. At last an old fish came up and, when the boy asked him, he 
replied, "I have the ring," and gave it to the boy. "What shall I give you 
for it?" asked the boy. The fish answered, "Make me a skin out of your 
gold." When the boy returned with the ring, the Chief left his people; 
because the boy had defeated him every time. 

Then the colt said to his owner, "You are rich now 
and do not need me any more. Take me to the place you magic ^coit'^^ 
found me in and turn me loose." The boy obeyed, but 
he began to crv. 



298 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xalural History. [Vol. II, 

37. The Bear's Sox.^ 

Bear's son killed his father. His mother married a AVhite man, who 
sent the boy to school. The White children teased the Bear-child. They 
made fun of his lono; nose and whipped him. The Bear-boy went to the 
Bear-bov kills blacksmith's shop. He had an iron pole made there, 
white children, Eight steers were not strong enough to ])u]l it to pieces, 
goes traveling. gear went home and told his mother he was going out 
alone to hunt the enemy. First, however, he went to school. The White 
children made fun of him again. "Your nose is big," they said. "Don't 
come in here." Bear took his rod and killed all the children with it. Then 
he went far away. 

He saw^ an Indian who was transposing the soil. The Indian asked 

him, "Where are you going?" "I'm looking for the enemy." "I think 

I wnll go along Avith you," said the man; "two of us will not be afraid of 

anything." They went along until they met another Indian, who was 

moving rocks from one place to another. "Where are 

Is Joined by ^ going?" he asked. "We are going far awav to 

three strangers. . s> & t? » .^ 

look for the enemy." "Let us three go together; we'll 

not be afraid of anything we may see." They went along. They saw an 

Indian who was transplanting a pine. The Indian asked what they were 

doing and joined them, saying, "Four of us will not be afraid of anything." 

They Avent along until they came to a creek with willow-trees on its 

l)anks. There was a house standing there, which they 
house, three com- entered. "To-morrow," they said, "three of us will go 
rades assaulted by hunting. Earth-Transposer will stay home and cook." 

The next morning the three others went out to hunt. 
Earth-Transposer cooked. When he was done, he looked at a news- 
paper. Suddenly Iron-Head --Man came in and asked for some food. 
Earth Transposer refused. Iron-Head-^NIan pulled him about, knocked him 
down and ate up all the food. Then he went away. In the evening, the 
hunters came home laughing. They asked Earth-Transposer why he had 
not prepared any food. He answered that he had wanted to cook, but had 
fallen down in reaching for some food that was kept near the top of the 
house. The next day Rock-]Mover stayed at home to cook. Again Iron- 
Head came in, knocked him down and disappeared after eating up all the 
food. When the hunters returned, Rock-Mover gave the same excuse for 
not having any food for them. On the following day, Pine-Transplanter 
met with the same adventure. 

' A well known European tale, of which a similar version was heard by the writer among 
the Stoney Assiniboine of Alberta. 
2 BOi-wihi-bambi-gant. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 299 

Finally Bear stayed at home. When he was through with his work, he 

began to whistle and to walk back and forth with his rod. 

He knew that Iron-Head was the ghost of his older brother. „„,f ^"^ conquers 

" ogre. 

Iron-Head came and asked for food. Bear refused. 

They wrestled. Bear threw the ghost and cut his throat, killing him.- 

The head jumped away by itself and went down into a hole. When the 

hunters came home in the evening, they laughed. When they saw that 

there was plenty of food, they thought Iron-Head had not come that day. 

They would not believe that the boy had killed him. Bear took them to 

the hole and showed them the blood around its edge. Then he told them 

to bring a rope. 

The men brought Bear a large rope and tied a bell to it. They were 

to be let down the hole, one by one. As soon as any one rang the bell, it 

would mean that he was frightened and the others were 

11 1 • T^ 1 T\ r T-i 1 rr^ Descends under- 

to pull hmi up. Rock-Mover, Earth-Transposer and ground. wins 

Pine-Transplanter went in successively. Each rang the women, hoists 

' . them up. 

bell and was piflled up again. Then Bear went down. 

He met three men, killed them and took their wives, whom he hoisted 
up on the rope. 

When the first woman came out of the hole, Earth-Transposer said, 
"I'll take you for a wife," and seized her. Pine-Transplanter and Rock- 
Mover married the other women. Then the men cut the rope. Bear fell 
down and broke his limbs. His older brother picked him up and healed 
his wounds. Then Bear asked his brother which was the wives stolen by 
swiftest animal. His brother told him the eagle was. comrades; vain 
They gave the eagle three sheep to eat; then Bear mounted ^"''^'^^ • 
him and flew up on his back. They flew faster and faster. The boy cut 
off some of his own flesh to feed the eagle so as to make him fly faster still. 
At last they got up. Bear tracked the Indians who had stolen his wives, 
but never found them. 

38. Ghost Stories.^ 

(a) 

I was going to the Flathead Reservation with two other Shoshone. 
In the night we got to a river. The moon was shining. We went in for a 
swim, leaving our clothes on the bank. When we got across, my friends 
asked me to bring the clothes over. As I was getting the clothing, I heard a 
baby crying. The moon was still high up. The sound was a little different 



» Told by Enga-gwacu ("Red-Shirt") Jim. 



300 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xattiral History. [Vol. II, 

from that of an ordinary baby's crying. I turned in that direction and 
saw a faint Hght under a Cottonwood. As 1 got closer, 1 thought I had 
better go back. I felt strange. 1 knew it must be a water-baby (Pa'ona) 
that was crying. I faced about and walked to a si)ot where there were no 
trees. Then I beheld an Indian coming towards me. I stopped and stood 
still. He also stopped. 1 could see his head and body plainly, but not 
his face. I began to walk, the stranger also walked. I stopped and he 
stopped. Then I thought I saw he was wearing a striped vest, but I was 
still unable to see his face. When I got nearer, I saAV that I had taken the 
ribs of a skeleton for a striped vest. Now, I knew the Indian was a ghost. 
I could see a light in his eyes. I had an uncanny feeling. I did not know 
what to do. I turned away. The ghost headed me off. He did not speak. 
I could see him plainly now. He was all bones. I said, "You are just 
a ghost, leave me alone." (On'o-n Dzo'ap, no-vii'ak.) He turned about, 
went down into the ground and disappeared. I joined my friends and 
told them of my adventure. 

(&) 

Several days later, I was riding along at sunset, looking for ground- 
squirrels. On one side of the road there was a row of pine-trees. I heard a 
soimd as if a squaw was crying at a funeral. I got off and built a little fire 
to cook the groinid-squirrels I had caught. After they were cooked, the 
noise stopped for a while. Then it came nearer again. By this time it 
was quite dark. The sound was now circling around me. I knew it was a 
ghost, so I untied my horse, took out my squirrels and prepared to flee. 
When the noise had come very close, it changed into the panting of a bear. 
I was very much terrified. The moon rose. I heard the noise circling 
about me again. For an instant it stoi)])ed. That moment I jumped on 
horseback and rode back to my two friends. By this time, we were near 
Salmon City. 

(c) 

When I was a little l)()y, I was once out looking for ground-hogs. I had 
a mirror with me. Looking around, I saw an Indian standing on a hill. 
I tried to flash the light towards him by holding my glass in the sun. Then 
I put my things away and ran towards the Indian. He Mas standing still. 
As I approached, I saw him sitting down with his legs stretched out. I 
thought his camp was near-by. Suddenly he arose and walked away. I 
looked around for him, but could not see him any more. I called him aloud. 
I returned to where he had sat down and tracked him. Sudtlenly his foot- 
steps ceased. It must have been a ghost. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoshone. 301 

I went in the opposite direction then, and walked homeward. I crossed 
a creek and then started up-liill. vSuddenly a rock was thrown at me, but 
did not hit me. As I turned aroiuid, I saw a rattlesnake. I thought the 
snake might have thrown the rock and ran down. I stopped to rest on a 
log until I saw the snake crawling from under it. I turned about and ran 
back, but stumbled over a stone and fell down. Then I crawled up the 
hill on my hands. The snake followed very quickly. I ran up the hill, 
then down again; but the snake continued to pursue me. The snake 
was only a few yards behind me. I Avas tired out. I threw stones at the 
snake, but it did not seem to mind them at all. I thought this snake must 
be a ghost, perhaps the same man that had disappeared before. I did not 
know Avhat to do and began to cry. Finally I said to the snake, "You 
are a ghost, let me alone." Then it let me go. 

39. Enga-gwacu's Experiences in the Underworld. 

I was roasting some salmon on issue-day about twenty years ago. I 
told my family to eat and that I would join them later. This was against 
the advice of my familiar spirit (bu'ha). That night something spoke to 
me in a dream. I dreamt of a big war where fighting was going on close 
to me. Suddenly a hail-stone struck me and I could not get it out. 

From that time on, I was sick, and ate very little for a month after my 
dream. My spirit did not help me any more. I felt as if I Avere going 
mad and was ready to die. The Sun spoke to me. He said, "You are 
going to die. Put up a se})arate lodge for yourself. After your death, you 
will be restored to life if you desire to be alive again." The Indians built 
me a separate lodge and left me there to die by myself.^ 

I was still breathing. I thought of seeing my dead father and mother, 
brother and other relatives. I wished to die immediately. For three 
days and four nights I lay in the tent. At last on the fourth day, my soul 
(mu'gua) came out of my thigh, made a ste]) forward and glanced back at 
ray body. The mfi'gua was about as large as this (ten inches). ]Mv body 
was not yet lifeless. When the mu'gua had made three steps forward, my 
body dropped, cold and dead. I looked at it for some time; it made no 
movement at all. 

Suddenly something came down and went clean through my soul. ^Nly 
soul began to go downward. It did not ascend. I reached another world 
and followed a trail there. I beheld a helper of the Father (A'po) who was 
making some dead men over again. I thought I might see the Father, but 

1 The speaker iruiicated the place where the lodge was erected. 



302 Anthropological Papers America)! Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

could only hear him. lie was .saying to me, "You don't look very ill." 
A kind of thin wire was making a noise at the time. The Father had a 
buckskin bag; out of its contents he makes everything. He tapped the 
wire three times. 1'hen I was able to see his hand, which was as small 
and clean as a baby's. Then the whole world opened up and I could see 
the earth plainly. I saw everything there. 1 saw my own body lying there 
dead. 

The Sun told me I would be restored to life. I did not walk back and 
I don't know how I returned. Suddenly I was back alive. For a few 
moments, I had seen the Father. He was a handsome Indian. My famil- 
iar spirit left me when I fell sick and never returned after that. 

On another occasion, I went up to the clouds. The people I met there 
were nothing but skeletons. I saw some of my friends there. In this other 
world there was a great deal of sage-brush. 



1909.] Lowie, The Northern Shoslwne. 303 



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